Original subtitles

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

DORAN: Just hold it right there.

Uh, Mr. Estes. I didn't realize it was you, sir.

It's my boat, you idiot. What's the matter with you?

Uh, yes, sir, I didn't realize you'd gone off.

Good.

Mr. Stafford is onboard, sir. He's in the salon.

What'd you let him onboard for?

- He is your nephew. - I don't care if he's the King of France.

Nobody comes onboard without permission.

Yes, sir. It won't happen again, sir.

He wash his hands?

Yes, sir. I heard him.

STAFFORD: Well...

- Out on the town, I see. - What are you doing here?

Well, this is what you get for not answering my phone calls.

I didn't feel like talking to you. Still don't.

So leave.

I, uh...

I hear you cut me out of your will.

Is that Scotch?

It's all right, Uncle Marvin, I washed my hands.

Who told you?

- Elliot Eagleton. He let it slip. - Agh.

Lawyers. Bane of my existence.

- So it's true? - Yeah, yeah. It's true.

What old Blabberton said is true, so leave.

But why? Uncle Marvin, I have served you faithfully for 15 years.

- You get paid. - But I've protected you.

I've made sure every one of your investments,

no matter how outrageous, has at least broken even, if not made a profit.

There is nothing outrageous about my investments.

[LAUGHS]

An amusement park in Tierra del Fuego?

Uh, a company that makes X-ray machines designed

to see inside of mummies?

A children's zoo?

You just don't appreciate the educational things in life.

Anybody else would have stood by and collected their paycheck

while your estate took a bath.

But me, I shopped, I bargained, I oversaw, I looked out for you.

Sure. So you could rob me blind later.

I never stole one cent from you.

As Sherlock Holmes said:

"Do you feel a creeping, shrinking sensation, Watson,

when you stand before the serpents in the zoo?"

Uncle Marvin, you need help.

- I'm going to bed. Leave. - No. No.

No. Not until we straighten this thing out.

Hey, Mr. Rent-a-fuzz! Get out here.

I don't know what anybody said to you, but I've never stolen from you.

- Get this man off my boat! - You can't do this.

- This isn't fair. - Come on.

I'm the only one around here who's not taking advantage of you!

[ALARM WAILING]

[ALARM CHIRPS THEN STOPS]

MAN: Oh, man.

- Is this yours? - Yeah.

Aw, no, they got my stereo. Beautiful.

Just beautiful.

[GRUNTING]

[GAGS]

[SPLASHING]

No. No, no, I'm not interested.

Billy, I'm not interested.

Billy. Billy. I'm not interested.

All right, bring it on over.

Billy Lewis.

Yeah, he wants me to invest in some kind of toy company.

- Oh, you're not going to, are you? - No.

But he won't take no for an answer till he shows me the toys.

[DOORBELL RINGS]

Well, that was fast.

It's not Billy.

- Hi. Elliot Eagleton. - Yeah. Ben Matlock.

Come on in here.

Uh, Leanne Mclntyre,

this is Elliot Eagleton, Mr. Estes' attorney.

- Hello. - My daughter and, uh, my associate.

Nice to meet you. I'm so sorry. What a tragedy.

The news said it was a suicide?

- Totally unexpected. - Yeah.

Come on in and sit down.

There you go. Ahem.

- Uh, would you like some coffee? - Oh, no, thanks.

- Piece of toast? - Ha-ha-ha.

No. I'm fine.

Would, uh...? Would it be all right if I smoked?

Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Eagleton, my dad's allergic to cigarette smoke.

That's okay, go ahead.

Well, I can wait.

Well, let's get to work.

Well, uh, as I said on the phone,

Mr. Estes left his entire estate to a Theresa Lavelle.

Just one person?

I drew up the will for him myself not two months ago.

Should make your job pretty straightforward.

What job?

Uh, I'm the executor of Marvin Estes' estate.

You're what?

EAGLETON: Your father, upon completion of his duties,

is to receive 2 percent of all disbursements.

You're a lucky man.

Such things are rarely done anymore.

[CHUCKLES]

I didn't even know you knew him.

I met him in the men's room at the courthouse.

He was, uh, washing his hands. Or trying to.

There wasn't any soap.

So I went to the custodian and got him some.

And he said it was the nicest thing anybody ever did for him.

And I introduced myself, Ben Matlock.

And he said, "Great. I'll make you executor of my will."

And he did.

Heh.

Well, he was strange.

"Eccentric" was the term he preferred.

How much was his estate worth?

- Two hundred million dollars. - About two hundred million dollars.

EAGLETON: Well, anyway, Mr. Matlock,

while the job at hand is straightforward,

it may not be simple.

We've made a few preliminary inquiries,

but nobody seems to know who or where this Theresa Lavelle is.

We'll find her.

So Ben stands to make $4 million from this deal?

LEANNE: Yeah, something like that.

But he doesn't get his money until this woman named Theresa gets hers.

I'm gonna be a lot nicer to the people I meet

in the men's room from now on, that's for sure.

Cliff, I think I've found something.

"To my beloved Marvin, yours forever, Theresa."

- Love letters. - Is the return address on them?

No.

There's no envelopes in here. Just the letters.

Oh, now, this is weird.

"To my dearest Theresa," and it's from Marvin.

What would he be doing with his letters to her?

Hey, you wanna see something even weirder?

Liquid aspirin.

No pills.

Not a single one.

MATLOCK: That's the ugliest doll I've ever seen.

BILLY: Ugly sells, Ben.

First Cabbage Patch Kids, then Trolls, now this, Weird Wally.

Gonna be big, real big.

That's really dumb, Billy.

Who would wanna spend money on a thing like that?

Looks like a rotten potato in drag.

They just test marketed it in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Went right through the roof.

This is the investment opportunity of a lifetime.

Why you trying to get me in on it?

You don't like me, remember?

So? Uh...

Maybe I changed my mind about you.

Maybe to get in on the ground floor, I need 20 grand, all I got's 10.

Maybe I figure a rich tightwad like you

could raise that much money in his sleep.

That's good.

That's... Honesty's the best policy.

- Then you'll go in with me? - Not a chance.

You're making a big mistake.

Hi, Dad.

If you had a kid, you'd buy her a doll like this, wouldn't you?

Well, I don't know, I might. Heh.

- Actually, he's kind of cute. - Jackass.

- Dad mad at you again? - Yeah.

- Did you find anything? - A little.

It seems Marvin Estes and this Theresa lady

were writing love letters to each other for close to a year.

For some reason, he had both sets of letters.

- Hmm. Did you get an address? - No, only the letters.

- No envelopes, no addresses. - And not a pill in sight.

Not even a cold tablet.

We did find some liquid aspirin.

I called the doctor who prescribed it.

He told me something very strange.

The old man couldn't take pills.

He had some kind of phobia against it.

All his prescriptions had to be in liquid form.

Marvin Estes died of an overdose of sleeping pills.

- The autopsy confirmed it. CLIFF: Hmm.

Doesn't sound much like suicide, does it?

ANDREWS: So they were arguing?

Yeah, yelling at each other, I'll say.

Mr. Stafford, I heard him mainly, but he was mad.

Any idea about what?

No, but when I escorted him off the ship, he was so mad,

I couldn't understand what he was saying.

ANDREWS: Escorted him off the ship? - Yeah. Mr. Estes asked me to.

- What time was this? - A little before 6.

Well, what happened after that?

Well, Mr. Stafford drove off, Mr. Estes went to sleep,

and I stood watch on deck until 7 in the morning

when Jimmy relieved me.

- You never left the boat? DORAN: No, sir.

Uh, wait a minute. I did leave, but just for a couple of minutes. Uh...

Car alarm went off over on the shore.

And when I went over to take a look,

somebody had ripped off a radio out of his car.

And you were gone only what, a couple of minutes?

Four or five at the most.

So somebody could have slipped onboard

while you were off the boat.

DORAN: I guess. Uh...

But when I came back, there was a splash off the port bow,

and when I went to take a look, I didn't see anything.

Maybe that's when the killer slipped off the boat.

Well, thanks, Mr. Doran. You've been a great help.

Uh, this woman Mr. Estes was seeing, this Theresa, what'd she look like?

Mr. Estes had a girlfriend?

- News to me. - Thanks, Mr. Doran.

Now, let me guess.

When Marvin Estes changed his will two months ago,

he cut his nephew out of it. Am I right?

Left everything to Theresa.

Means Mr. Stafford had a motive.

Ha, ha, oh, well, so did this Theresa.

Two hundred million dollars.

Here they are. Marvin Estes' love letters.

- Oh, great. - And Theresa's.

I got photocopies from Lieutenant Andrews.

Excellent.

What is that?

I've decided that I'm gonna start eating healthy.

It's a vegetable sandwich. Would you like one?

Uh, no, thanks.

Okay, why don't you read Marvin's letters from Theresa,

and I will take Theresa's to Marvin.

- Okay. - You know, it's so interesting.

She typed all of hers. I wonder if she was a secretary or something.

Uh-huh. Oh, wow.

- What? What does he say? - Wow.

"My dear Theresa.

All my life I've waited for a woman like you.

Yes, you are beautiful.

But it's the way that your green eyes"...

- She has green eyes. - Green eyes.

"The way your green eyes see into my soul.

The way you can understand my pain,

that makes me know I'll love you forever."

LEANNE: Hmm.

All right. "My darling Marvin.

I saw a painting today that reminded me of you.

Or rather, a painting I saw in Italy once, of Saint Paul.

It reminded me of you, because that's what you are to me, my love, a saint."

Italy? If she's a secretary, she must be a very well paid one.

Mm, yeah. Yeah. Oh, hey, wait. Look.

How about this one?

"I long to see the sun reflecting gold

in the tousled halo of your lovely brown hair."

Brown hair.

"And for the warmth of your smile to fill me once again.

My life began the day I met you."

- Mm. - Mm.

LEANNE: "Watching you and Jake play in the sand yesterday

made me feel the way you looked, like a child full of joy,

grateful for today, and eager for tomorrow.

Crystal has become very special to me,

because you're special to me.

Yours forever, Marvin."

Ugh.

Sounds like teenage puppy love to me.

You know, everyone says Marvin Estes

was so impossible to get along with,

but there was this side of him, this very sweet side of him,

that nobody ever knew.

Mm, uh... I guess you're right.

Hey, wanna go over them again?

- Yeah, but let's take five first. - Agh.

Wonderful.

REPORTER [ON TV]: In a story that has become

as big of a mystery as the man himself,

there is new information regarding the death of Marvin Estes

which has caused authorities to question

whether the death of the multimillionaire recluse

was murder, and not a suicide, as first reported.

One of the persons being sought in the case

is a woman named Theresa Lavelle,

who WNJH has just learned is the sole heir

to Marvin Estes' multimillion dollar estate.

MAN [ON TV]: And in a related story, we...

WOMAN: Hey. Okay, here it comes.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

Okay, that sounds good.

All right. Look, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow at 10.

Right. Bye-bye.

Morning, Ricardo.

- What's up? - Listen, Ron.

This is very difficult for me,

but I'm dumping this place.

- Ha-ha-ha. What do you mean? - It's losing money.

An investment loses money, I've gotta dump it.

It's not yours to dump.

It belongs to Marvin's estate.

And until I'm fired, it's my responsibility

to see his estate makes money, not loses it.

All right, look, look, look.

Having his own personal children's zoo meant a lot to your uncle.

I've gotta dump it.

With all due respect, Rick, I don't think you know enough

about this business to make an arbitrary decision like that.

It's losing money, Ron.

Well, all zoos lose money in the first few years.

All right. Here's the truth.

Marvin was convinced something was going on,

and I wanna put an end to it now.

Wait a minute. What are you talking about, "something else was going on"?

What kind of an insinuation is that?

Listen to me. I broke my back for your uncle, and he knew it.

And so do you.

I'm really sorry, Ron.

[PHONE RINGING]

Yeah.

Okay, I'll tell him.

Rick.

You have a visitor at the front gate.

Lieutenant Andrews.

He's with the police.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

STAFFORD: Look. It was no big deal. We were always arguing.

My uncle argued with everyone. That's why he didn't have friends.

But I hear that you were so angry that particular night

that you had to be escorted off his boat.

Is that true?

Yes.

[CAMEL GRUNTING]

Do you actually have an office in this place?

My uncle's idea.

Making me work out of the zoo gave him an excuse to come down here.

Animals were like his favorite thing. He could relate to them.

Come on.

Trick is to stay up wind of the camel.

Right.

Where'd you go after you left Mr. Estes' yacht that day?

- Home. - Huh.

You married?

No. And no girlfriends either.

Look. Why are you asking me all these questions?

I'm not the only one ever got kicked off my uncle's boat.

No, but you were the last person to, Mr. Stafford.

When you add that to the fact that your fingerprints

were on the bottle of Scotch that was...

My prints were on that bottle because I made myself a drink that day.

I didn't kill my uncle, and that's all I'm gonna say.

Okay.

If and when I have more, I know how to find you.

Just follow your nose.

Right.

WOMAN: Okay, Jake, get the ball.

Get the ball. Come on.

Good boy. Come on, bring it home.

Come on, bring it home. Good boy.

What a good boy you are. Drop the ball.

Drop the ball. Oh, what a good boy. You wanna go get it again?

Go get it. Bring it back. Come on.

Good boy, Jake.

- Hi. - Hi.

Great looking dog, Theresa.

Thank you.

A lot of people are looking for you.

How did you know?

I'm Leanne Mclntyre. Daughter of Ben Matlock.

He's the executor of Marvin Estes' estate.

We read the letters you sent.

Crystal Beach, brown hair, green eyes.

Dog's name is Jake.

Now what?

I'd like you to go back to Atlanta with me and answer some questions.

You're about to ruin my life, I hope you know that.

I didn't come forward because I'm married.

Weren't you interested in collecting $200 million?

After seeing what having that amount of money did to Marvin, no. Not at all.

Where were you the night he was murdered? Do you remember?

Vividly.

My husband suspected that something was amiss between us,

so he insisted that we spend a long, romantic weekend together

at the Lombard Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.

We arrived Friday afternoon at 1, and we left Sunday evening.

Any number of people can verify that.

What's your husband do?

He's a writer.

THERESA: Poetry and novels.

He's very sensitive.

This is gonna kill him.

[DOOR OPENS]

Excuse me. Lieutenant Andrews? Can you come out here for a second?

ANDREWS: What is it? What's so interesting?

Well, before you go any further with that lady in there,

the sergeant thought you should know.

This lady over here? Just walked in claiming to be Theresa Lavelle.

And, guess what.

So did that one.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

If either one of those ladies is Theresa Lavelle then I'm Elvis Presley.

Well, her name was given out on TV last night. It was bound to happen.

Leak better not have come from my department, I'll tell you.

If I find out that it came from this...

Which one of you ladies is Theresa Lavelle?

Me.

[ALL CHATTERING]

[CHUCKLES]

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

I just had a couple more questions. Could I come in for a second?

Stop it, Jake. Stop it.

I guess it's all right. The damage has been done.

Stop it, Jake. Jake, stop it.

- Stop it, Jake. - Maybe if I feed him, he'll settle.

Come on, Jake. Jake.

[DOG WHINING]

Is, uh... Is your husband here?

No.

Does he know?

He's talking to his lawyer.

How long had you been seeing Marvin Estes?

About a year.

- Uh, where'd you meet? - Uh...

The beach.

How often did you see him?

About once a week. No more.

- Did he come here? - Never.

Nor did I ever go to his boat.

We'd meet on the beach, mostly at night.

Sometimes we'd just get into his car and we'd drive around.

We talked, mostly.

Only occasionally did we ever go further.

Ours wasn't your basic cheap, tawdry affair.

It was different.

Rare and precious.

I guess that's why you wrote so many letters back and forth

is because you didn't see each other that much.

Yeah.

There's one thing I don't get.

How come Marvin Estes had all the letters he wrote you,

as well as all the letters you wrote him?

Well, I certainly didn't want any of the letters lying around here.

So whenever I saw Marvin I gave them back to him.

Why didn't you just get rid of them?

Because he didn't want me to.

He wanted to save them.

As you probably know, he was rather compulsive.

- Theresa. - Hi.

Mr. Matlock, this is my husband, Stuart Lavelle.

Stuart, this is the lawyer I was telling you about. Ben Matlock.

You're the guy who's gonna be doling out Marvin Estes' money?

That's one way of putting it.

So when do we get the 200 million?

Stuart, for God's sakes...

What's the matter? You earned it, didn't you?

Stop it!

What, am I embarrassing you or something?

[CLEARS THROAT]

I'm not gonna walk out of this marriage empty-handed.

Now, when does she get the money?

As soon as the investigation into Marvin Estes' death is complete.

Why should some investigation have anything to do with it?

Because it just does.

But I understand how you feel, and I'll do my best to expedite things.

I can see my way out.

[DOG GROWLS]

MATLOCK: Jake. Down, Jake. No.

Ben. Hey, Ben, wait up.

- What are you doing here? - Looking for you.

I don't have time, Billy.

I gotta see Judge Cooksey and get right home.

- I don't have time to talk. - I don't wanna talk.

Just wanted to make sure you saw this.

Ugliest doll you've ever seen, huh, Ben?

Looks like a rotten potato in drag.

Got myself a loan for the other 10 grand.

Investment doubled in a week.

Pretty smart for a fella as dumb as me, huh?

Too bad, uh, you didn't get in on it.

CLIFF: You've been gone a long time.

Yeah, a long day.

- Saw your dad. - Oh.

- Did he say hi? - No.

- Check out the Lombard? - Yeah.

The Lavelles were there, but guess what.

What?

They were down in the spa getting a massage

- at the time of the murder. - Oh.

Well, neither one of them may be the murderer,

but I'll guarantee you they're fakes.

- Fakes? - Yeah. I went to see Theresa Lavelle.

That dog she has, his toys, his dish, his bed, all brand new.

- New, huh? - Yeah.

I don't think his name's Jake either.

- He didn't respond. - Huh.

Somehow she read those love letters, and was able to quote all that stuff

that was in them, and then kept her fingers crossed.

She figured that people would ask less questions

if they came to her, rather than vice versa.

How would she have read the letters if she had never been on the boat?

I don't know. Check her out. Her husband too.

What are you doing to this lamp?

Fixing it. Had some frayed wires.

That could be a fire hazard.

There you go.

[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]

MATLOCK: Say good night, Cliff.

CLIFF: Good night.

ANDREWS: Mr. Stafford.

Hi, it's me again. Got a minute?

- No, not really. What do you want? - Well, I hate to bother you.

You ate lunch at a restaurant called the Plum Garden

the day Marvin Estes was murdered?

I don't remember.

So Mr. Estes's security guard...

You know, the one that kicked you off the boat?

Well, it turns out, he left his post

in order to check out a car that was being broken into.

Now, we figured the killer set off that alarm

as a distraction so he could get back on the boat without anybody seeing him.

What the hell does any of that got to do with me?

Well, this morning we located that car at a repair shop close to the marina,

and on the driver's side on the floor, we found a credit-card receipt.

The very same one they gave you when you paid for lunch at the Plum Garden.

- We checked. - That's impossible.

ANDREWS: It fell out of your pocket

while you were bending over, stealing the radio out of the car.

You're under arrest.

- That was a mistake. - Get him out of here.

This is crazy. It's gotta be a mistake.

It's a mistake.

[HUMMING]

- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.

[CONTINUES HUMMING]

Don't eat out of the pan, Dad.

Don't eat out of the pan. It's bad manners. It'll ruin your dinner.

- Did you hear the news? - What news?

The police just arrested Rick Stafford for Marvin Estes' murder.

Go on.

Yeah, apparently, they just found some new evidence.

Don't eat out of that pan!

Mm. Hmm.

- What's wrong? - I told Stuart Lavelle

his wife wouldn't inherit any money

till Marvin Estes' murder was solved, and not 24 hours later, it was solved.

Huh. Hmm.

- Where you going? - County jail.

- You didn't eat dinner. - Yeah, I did.

Mr. Stafford had apparently learned that his uncle

had written him out of his will, and was upset about it.

In a related development... Perfect.

With him out of the way, all attempts to sell the zoo will be shelved indefinitely.

Is that long enough for us to take care of business?

Thank God Marvin thought he could trust you.

I guess I just have one of those faces.

[ALL LAUGHING]

Well, to Nick Dempsey, master of beasts,

confidante of eccentric millionaires,

who's about to be fabulously wealthy himself,

as are we all.

Wait, wait, let me get this straight. You want to defend me?

Yeah.

- I can only pay you so much. - That's okay. That's okay.

Seeing as how your uncle left me a lot of money for doing practically nothing,

and I won't get a penny of it until, uh, until this thing is settled,

I'd probably be looking into this murder anyway,

so I might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?

- Right. - Yeah.

Uh, see, well, you are pleading not guilty?

Of course.

Yeah, yeah.

How did...? How did your credit-card receipt get in that car?

Well, I keep all my credit-card receipts in my drawer at the office.

Somebody must have taken it when I wasn't there, or wasn't looking.

Yeah.

You probably were framed after the fact by somebody

that wanted to get this investigation over as fast as possible.

But that somebody would have to know that the police

considered you a suspect.

Who knew that they were talking to you?

Everybody at the zoo, I guess.

Zoo?

Yeah, um...

Uncle Marvin owned a children's zoo.

That's where my office is.

You know, when I was on his boat the day he was killed,

he said something weird that I kind of dismissed at the time.

My uncle was slightly paranoid.

He was always doing and saying weird things, but...

But if I was framed by somebody I knew at the zoo,

- maybe it wasn't so weird after all. - What'd he say?

Well, he quoted some bizarre line

from a Sherlock Holmes book about the zoo. Uh...

"Creeping, shrinking snake" or something.

Maybe he... Maybe he knew something.

Maybe something is going on over there.

Huh.

All right, send her in.

- Ms. Mclntyre. Ron Welker. - Hello.

- Come in, please. Have a seat. - Thank you.

- Can I get you something? - No, I'm fine, thanks.

- Oh, sorry. - Thank you.

I cannot tell you what a relief it is to know that Rick is being represented

by someone of your father's stature.

And yours, of course.

So, what can I do for you?

Well, my dad and I are proceeding on the assumption that Rick is innocent,

and that whoever framed him

knew the police would consider him a likely suspect.

I understand you were here that day that the police came to question him?

Uh, yes. Yes, I was here.

So was my assistant, Rick's assistant,

the four people who take care of the animals,

and, uh, two maintenance men.

I also understand that Mr. Estes wasn't very happy

with what was going on here.

What do you mean?

Marvin loved this place.

It was the only thing he owned that didn't make him unhappy.

Who told you that, Rick?

He said the children's zoo constantly lost money,

due largely to your mismanagement of funds.

[SIGHS]

- No. - Mm.

Number one,

do you know anything about Marvin Estes?

Not that much.

Marvin was a lunatic.

I loved him. But he was crazy.

Whether this place lost or made money

was never of any concern to him.

And number two, I have never in my life mismanaged funds.

So then you feel that purchasing five lions in two years

and selling each one of them at a loss was justified?

We only have room for two lions here, okay?

Finding two that are compatible is not that easy.

Mm.

And what with the international financial scene as chaotic as it is,

selling the ones that don't work out is rarely profitable.

- And Mr. Estes understood that? - Of course he did.

Rick doesn't because he's nothing but a bean counter.

He has no idea what it takes to run something like this.

I'm sorry, it's just that, uh,

to be accused of incompetence like that or worse,

it's just...

It's irritating.

I understand how you feel.

I've probably taken too much of your time.

I'll let you get back to work. Nice to meet you.

Sure. Nice meeting you.

Bye-bye.

- Did you hear? - Yeah.

Now, if one of you killed Marvin, that was stupid enough.

But if you tried to pin this on Rick Stafford,

that was the act of a total moron!

I always pegged you for the murderer, Elliot.

Very funny, Ron.

Because of somebody, there's gonna be a lot

of unwanted attention at the children's zoo.

All right, look. Maybe we ought to just cool it for a while.

- Too late for that. - Only thing we can do is stay calm.

And let's try to use our brains.

[GROWLING]

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

BILLY: They can't sue me too can they?

MATLOCK: Well...

This, uh, Kevin Hermanski,

he take your money?

Yeah.

I didn't know they weren't putting flame retardant in the clothes.

I didn't know they had to.

I did wonder once or twice how they was able to sell them so cheap.

Did you sign anything?

Yeah.

Remember what?

No.

Get copies of everything you signed, and I'll look at them.

Thanks. I take back all the bad things I ever said about you. Heh.

No, there'll always be one or two.

[PHONE RINGING]

The phone's ringing.

Hello?

Oh, I... Uh... I have no idea, Leanne.

Who...? Elliot Eagleton. I...

He was at the children's zoo?

Well, wait, are you sure he hid while you were there?

Well... Well, of course.

MATLOCK: Rick said that Elliot Eagleton

came to the children's zoo often to see Ron Welker.

And that means he could've known the police talked to Rick.

And he could've stolen that receipt.

So you think Elliot Eagleton killed Marvin Estes and framed Rick.

Yeah. Yeah, and set up this phony Theresa,

so that she could inherit the $200 million,

and then right away hand it over to him.

Well, you could be right about her being a fake.

She and her husband are renting the house.

They moved in from someplace out of town

- about a month ago. - Yeah.

What did they do with the real Theresa?

I don't know. That's what's starting to bother me.

Well, look at this.

Typewriter ribbon.

Typewriter paper.

White-out.

I...

I don't remember seeing a typewriter anywhere onboard, do you?

No, not at all.

You know how to scuba dive?

No.

No.

- No. - Hell, it can't be that deep.

I'm not going in that water, Ben.

- I'm freezing! - You're wearing a rubber suit.

I don't care, I'm freezing.

- I'm coming out. - No, no, no.

Try over there.

I'm cold. I'm coming out.

No. Try over there.

I'm not Jacques Cousteau.

Just try over there.

Okay, you were right. Can I come out now?

Yeah. Come on out.

I'll get you a blanket.

"I saw a painting today that reminded me of you,

or rather of a painting I saw in Italy once of Saint Paul.

It reminded me of you because... "What?

"that's what you are to me," yeah, "a S-A-I-N-T." A saint.

Hey, Cliff, look here.

Look how the... Look how the tails of the G's and the Y's fall off.

See those little holes in the S's?

CLIFF: Yeah. MATLOCK: Yeah.

They're the same.

All Theresa's letters were typed on this typewriter.

Marvin Estes wrote love letters to himself?

Well, everybody said he was a little strange.

He was nuts.

Yeah. Ah.

[HUMMING]

You getting warm?

Theresa? Ah, Ben Matlock.

Yeah, I'm over... I'm over here on the coast. I wonder, uh...

I wonder if I could come over and talk with you for a few minutes.

Good. I... Great, I'll be there at 4.

- He knows. - How could he?

I'm telling you, he knows.

Hi, it's me. Ben Matlock just called. I think he's figured it out.

Twenty minutes? Uh... Yeah, we can be there.

I don't like this. It doesn't feel right.

Will you please stop worrying? For once in your life, trust me.

Why does it have to be here? Why couldn't it be in town?

Anyway, he's late.

Bet you anything he doesn't even show up.

He'll show.

There he is. I told you.

[GUNSHOTS]

[DOG BARKING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]

[DOG WHINING AND BARKING]

OFFICER: So we've got a clear ID. - Excuse me.

So much for your heiress.

She wasn't my heiress.

- She wasn't? - No. She wasn't anybody's heiress.

I'll bet you anything Marvin Estes made up the whole thing.

He made up this Theresa Lavelle person, she didn't exist.

Old man Estes made me executor in his will,

that's 2 percent of everything once it's settled, but it won't be settled.

I'll run around here like a chicken with my head cut off,

trying to figure this thing out, and I won't make a dime.

Well, who's the body?

Somebody brought in, so somebody else could collect that $200 million.

- She was a fake? - Yeah, she was a fake.

And I'll bet you another anything.

I'll bet you that that person that hired her

was the same person that killed her.

Well, you were right. We checked their prints.

Theresa was really Suzie Barron, and her husband was David Levine.

They were two small-time con artists from Galveston.

- Their sheets are in there. - Oh, good.

Any connection between Elliot Eagleton and Ron Welker?

Well, none that we've found so far.

None between them and your client either, Ben.

Oh. Mm.

Well, I'm gonna make a phone call.

- Thanks. - Don't mention it.

Bye.

[HUMMING]

- Who you gonna call? - Elliot Eagleton.

[CONTINUES HUMMING]

- You know the number? - I'll dial.

[WHISTLING]

Uh, eh... Yeah. Mr. Eagleton, please.

Oh, he's not? He's not.

Well, uh, ahem, it's kind of important I, uh, get in touch with him.

I'm down here at the, uh... At the jail. Could you tell me where he is?

Oh, okay. I'll try there. Thanks.

Let's go to the zoo.

[LAUGHS]

Gorgeous.

- When will the others get here? - Thursday afternoon.

They'll bring a fortune.

[PHONE RINGING]

Yes.

All right, give us a minute, then send them in.

Ben Matlock and his daughter are here.

- You take those, I'll go out back. - I'm going with you.

Elliot, don't bother. It's you they came to see.

Get going.

[CLEARS THROAT]

WELKER: Mr. Matlock. Ron Welker. EAGLETON: Hello again, Ben.

Let's forget the handshakes and, uh, get down to business.

You people are the closest things to friends that Marvin Estes ever had.

According to the, uh, security people who guarded his yacht,

you're about the only ones who ever came to see him.

And so my guess is that one or both of you found out

that Theresa Lavelle only existed in Marvin Estes' poor, sad, lonely mind,

and one or both of you tried to cash in on it.

What are you talking about?

Suzie Barron.

The con artist that one or both of you hired

to pretend to be Theresa Lavelle,

hoping, through her, you could get hold of Marvin Estes' estate.

The woman somebody shot yesterday.

Wait a minute. You're saying she was a fake?

Yeah.

Mr. Matlock, if you'll recall, you and your daughter found her.

And it was a great way to convince us and everyone else

that she was the real McCoy.

You knew we would read those letters. You knew we would track her down.

I deeply resent these totally unfounded accusations.

Look, you're a lawyer. Isn't this slanderous or something?

If any of this gets repeated outside these walls,

you're in deep trouble indeed, counselor.

These two people were killed less than an hour after I called them.

Somehow, there's a connection between them and one of you.

And you tried to be sure that connection was never found.

Get the hell out of here.

We'll find that connection. Make sure of that.

- Shall we go, Dad? - Yeah.

It's always a pleasure, gentlemen.

How could you do it?

After I stood here and I told you and Nick,

in no uncertain terms, not to do anything stupid!

We didn't do anything stupid.

At least, I didn't.

LEANNE: Well, hopefully that rattled their cages.

They should have put Marvin Estes in a cage.

I ought not to talk about him like that,

but leaving his whole estate to somebody who doesn't exist.

This thing will be in probate till the year 2010.

I'll never make 19 cents.

- Dad, Dad. - Huh?

See that guy over there?

He was with Elliot Eagleton the day I came to see Ron Welker.

They talked all the way to Eagleton's car.

MATLOCK: You sure? - Yeah, I'm sure.

Huh. I wonder who he is.

Elliot Eagleton's a lawyer, this guy feeds animals.

I wonder what they have in common.

Maybe the animals' diets.

[CHUCKLING]

Big, uh, dark hair, beard?

- That's him. MATLOCK: Yeah.

That's Nick Dempsey, chief animal handler.

Elliot Eagleton's a high-priced lawyer.

Why would he be talking to him about the animals?

I always wondered that myself.

- And they talked a lot? STAFFORD: Mm-hm.

Whatever they said was always brief, always quiet, and always in private.

I wonder if your uncle Marvin knew what they were talking about.

I don't know. Maybe that's why he's dead.

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

WAITER: You need a reservation. - She's not wearing a tie.

All I wanna do is talk to my lawyer. Hey, Ben.

Thank God, I found you. You gotta explain something to me.

Billy, I'm with a client. Ask Cliff.

BILLY: I can't find Cliff. It's a matter of life and death.

So is this.

Billy Lewis. Welcome to the club.

This was delivered to me this morning.

What's it mean?

Mm.

It means the Consumer Protection Unit of the state attorney general's office

is bringing an action for enforcement and fine for willful violation

of the Child Safety Act of 1989.

What the hell's that mean?

You and your friends are being sued for $5 million.

[WHIMPERS]

- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.

Got your message. What's the job?

- Well, it's... - A murder case?

Cliff, it's...

It's not very big. That's okay, really.

[SIGHS]

Actually, it's...

- Very challenging, right? - Ugh.

- How do I say this? - Personal injury? Wrongful death.

We want you to go undercover.

- Undercover? - At the children's zoo.

- Undercover at the zoo? - It's only for a couple of days.

Oh...

I just had this conversation with your father.

I'm an accredited attorney. I take depositions.

I wear suits.

I... I don't scuba dive for a living. I...

Cliff...

I don't wanna go undercover at the zoo.

Why not? You are great with animals.

Leanne, I grew up on a farm.

Cows, I'm great with. Uh, chickens, I'm great with.

Tigers, lions, boa constrictors, I wouldn't be so great.

Oh, Cliff, we wouldn't ask you unless we were really in a bind.

- Leanne. - Please?

These animals eat lawyers for lunch.

CLIFF: Nick Dempsey?

Yeah.

Cliff Lewis.

- I talked to you on the phone. - Oh, right. Right.

I called a couple of your references. Said you were a solid employee.

Especially that trainer you worked for in Atlanta.

He gave you a great recommendation.

Oh. Okay. I never worked in a zoo before, but I'm a fast learner.

- Ha, ha. Found an apartment yet? - Still looking.

We can put you in the maintenance building till you find something.

You mean I got the job?

Come on, I'll show you the place.

Then you can start cleaning out the cages.

Great.

[SQUAWKS]

DEMPSEY: Lewis. - Yes.

I need help over at the panther pen.

- Right now? - Yeah, come on.

Do you have them?

They're right here.

They're all of this quality?

Yes.

When will they be here?

You'll get them Thursday night.

Two hundred thousand now, 600,000 upon receipt of the others.

Provided they're the same grade as these.

Deal.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

EAGLETON: What do you mean tomorrow?

It's okay. They're keeping the llama in quarantine an extra day, that's all.

These things happen.

The llama will be here bright and early tomorrow morning. No problem.

Make sure Ron tells McEvoy we won't be making delivery until Friday night.

After this we're gonna have to cool it.

For a couple of months, maybe for good.

This murder screwed up everything.

You worry too much, Elliot.

[LAUGHS]

All right, load her up again and I'll meet you over at the tiger cage.

Right.

- Mr. Dempsey. - Good boy.

Hi. I'm Leanne Mclntyre.

Oh, yeah, I know who you are.

You're that broad who works for Ben Matlock.

Well, actually, I'm his daughter.

Gonna harass me the way you've been harassing Mr. Welker?

Oh, I haven't been harassing him.

Mr. Eagleton? You've been staying in his face pretty good too.

Well, while we're on the subject,

I hear you and Mr. Eagleton are pretty tight.

- I know the guy. - I'll say you do.

Every time he comes here, you two go off somewhere

and do a lot of whispering.

- Says who? - Rick Stafford.

- Oh, well, sure. - And me.

I've seen you.

What do you talk about?

Maybe that land you bought in Costa Rica.

Great piece of property, I understand.

Waterfront, very expensive. You paid cash.

Would you mind telling me how you did that on your salary?

Word to the wise, lady.

Keep your nose out of my business.

Oh, come on, you can tell me. What do you two talk about?

Animals.

Elliot just loves animals.

[DOOR BELL RINGING]

Ben?

- Son. - Dad, what are you doing here?

Looking for Ben. Ben?

He not here, Dad.

I left four messages on his answering machine.

You'd think with my life hanging by a shoe string,

he'd have the decency to return one of my calls. Ben?

- Dad, he's not here. - My trial begins in two hours

and my attorney's probably out chasing some pretty blond.

- Now, that's just... - Couldn't care less I could go broke.

Dad. Dad, he'll be here, I promise you, if you've got a court date.

He's on another case.

Just to be on the safe side, why don't you come with me,

- in case he doesn't show? - I can't.

- Why not? - Heh.

I gotta go to the zoo.

- The zoo? - Yeah, I'm on a case.

You know the other case that Ben has?

I'm... I'm on it. I'm... I'm sort of undercover.

- Doing what? - Um...

Kind of cleaning up after the animals.

I didn't put you through law school

so Ben Matlock could have you tending to the sanitation problems of a monkey.

- It's not like that. - You're a lawyer!

Stand up and act like one! What's the matter with you?

Dad, nothing's the... Dad. Dad, it's okay.

Nothing's the matter with me. He'll be there, I promise you.

But can you do me a favor? Since you're gonna see him first,

will you give him a message for me?

Please? Please.

BILLY: Where you been?

I was at the coast all morning. Gee, you look nice, Billy.

Thanks. I phoned your place four times.

- They call the case yet? - They said any minute now.

Yeah, well, just relax.

You like tormenting me, don't you, Ben?

It's that mean streak of yours.

First you make a mental case out of my sister,

now you try to give me a stroke.

- You want me to go home? - No.

Uh, I saw Cliff. He, uh... He gave me a message for you.

I'm supposed to be able to read this?

I was nervous, my hand was shaking.

- Why didn't Cliff write it? - He didn't have a pencil.

What's it say?

Said, "He overheard Elliot Esolman..."

Eagleton.

"and Nick Dumpster..."

- Dempsey. - Yeah.

He overheard them talking.

"They said the llama's being delivered tomorrow morning.

And after that, they're gonna cool it."

Llama?

- You sure he said llama? - Yeah.

- Pretty sure. - What else?

Uh, he said he's real unhappy about this undercover work.

He wishes you'd let him be a lawyer. The boy worked as hard...

Billy, what about the llama? What'd he mean about the llama?

I don't know.

What's he want me to do about the llama?

I don't know.

Billy, one of these days...

BAILIFF: State of Georgia v. Hermanski, Lewis, Foster and Smith.

Oh, that's us.

Come on.

Mr. Matlock, you have a motion

to sever your client from these proceedings?

Uh, yes, sir, I do, Your Honor.

Uh, it's totally improper for my client to be here.

These gentlemen are culpable, he is not.

Your Honor, these men, Mr. Lewis included,

are, by valid contract, partners.

They rode in together, they should hang together.

I think I'll hear testimony on this.

MATLOCK: Mr. Lewis, would you please tell the judge

what you do for a living?

[QUIETLY] I'm a farmer, semi-retired.

Say again.

I'm a farmer, semi-retired.

Would you say that you're a man of, um, substantial means?

- Huh? - Do you have a lot of money?

What's that got to do with anything?

Just answer the question.

Well, I ain't exactly rich. I got some money.

Least, I used to.

What do you mean, you used to?

Practically everything I had went into those dolls.

Ten thousand dollars.

And I borrowed another 10 grand on top of that.

Hmm. How'd you hear about these dolls?

Mr. Hermanski told me his dolls were a sure thing.

He told me if I'd give him $20,000,

I was almost sure to double my money within a month.

Mr. Hermanski a friend of yours?

I didn't know him from Adam.

Is he in the courtroom today?

He's the guy sitting over there, Ben. You know who it is.

Which guy?

The one in the blue suit.

Mr. Lewis, were you aware that the company you invested in

was selling dolls that were made in direct violation

of the Georgia Child Safety Act of 1989?

I told you I didn't know that.

Do you know what a general partner is?

No. Don't know that either.

Why you asking me questions like that?

Just answer... Were you aware that you were a general partner

in Weird Wally Dolls Incorporated?

No.

You're making me look like an idiot, Ben.

Just answer the questions.

You signed a contract. Didn't you read it before you signed it?

Sure I read it.

Doesn't mean I understood it.

JUDGE: I think I've heard enough.

Is there any particular reason why you wanted to press charges

against Mr. Lewis here?

Yes, Your Honor.

He's a general partner, and as such, he should be liable.

A willful act requires at least a modicum of knowledge, Mr. Price.

I'm going to entertain a defense motion to dismiss all charges against this man.

So moved.

No objection.

Mr. Lewis, you're free to go.

You know, Ben,

you made me look like a real jackass in there.

Thank you.

MATLOCK: Leanne?

Hi. I have been through every nook and cranny of this place.

If there is a connection between those two con artists

- and one of our suspects, it's not here. - Hmm.

Did you get anything out of Nick Dempsey?

- Not much. - Oh, this is hard, isn't it?

It's very hard. How'd court go?

Oh, Billy loves me because I got him off.

[CHUCKLES]

Pretty soon we're gonna have to get a job where we get paid.

[LAUGHS]

I went by the bank on my way over here.

The Lavelles, or whoever you wanna call them,

opened up a checking account about a month ago.

Since Lieutenant Andrews said they were from Galveston,

I thought there was some kind of bank transfer.

- Was there? - No.

They had $20,000 in cash, and a lot of very legitimate-looking IDs.

The only checks they wrote were to the man they rented this place from,

the utility companies, and the grocery store.

No long-distance phone calls, either.

- Not even to Galveston. - Mm.

They really knew what they were doing, didn't they?

- Did you check that? - No, not yet.

MAN [ON MACHINE]: Hello? You there? I hope you can hear this.

[JACKHAMMER POUNDING IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]

There's some construction work going on outside. Driving me bananas.

Anyway, I got your message. Very interesting.

[CHURCH BELLS RINGING IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]

We'll have a lot to talk about, mate. Call me after 7, my time.

LEANNE: Long distance.

- English accent? - Australian?

I wonder where he was calling him from.

Probably a phone booth.

Did you check the trash can?

Oh.

I haven't been to Galveston in I don't know how long.

- What do you think? - Couldn't hurt.

No.

[SNORING]

[RATTLING]

[GRUNTS]

[GRUNTS]

[GRUNTS]

[MACHINERY HUMMING]

Hi.

You wanna go for a walk?

MAN: Hey, look. Look at that.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

[LAUGHING]

Whoa! Whoa, good boy. Good boy.

Don't get the chance to examine many llamas.

So what'd you find?

Well, his teeth could use a little looking after.

But, uh, other than that, he seems just fine.

- That's it? - That's it.

- Nothing unusual? - Nope.

And you looked...? You looked everywhere?

If this animal's being used to smuggle some kind of contraband

into the country, I'll eat my medical degree.

[GROANS]

[HUMMING]

You sure you don't want me to take you to the airport?

- I got 20 minutes. I should be fine. - Okay.

Oh, oh, oh! I promised Judge Cooksey we'd...

Would you tell him I'll call him next week?

- I'll do it right now. - Okay.

- Have a safe trip. Bye. - Thanks. Bye.

Hello, Ben.

- Billy, I'm just on my... - These are for you.

- They need water. - Oh, oh, all right. Thanks.

Uh, ahem.

There. Uh, there you go.

You don't like them.

Uh, I like them, Billy...

You helped me, Ben. I'm trying to say thank you.

- You're welcome. - And I'm trying to help you.

Some people might think you're a tough, uncaring,

unfeeling, tightwad, rich person.

And while you are,

I believe somewhere, hidden in there,

is a somewhat sweet, kind, almost giving person.

I'm trying to show you you can be likable.

You finally, for whatever your hidden reason,

did something good. For me.

And I'm trying to help you get that little good part of you

out from under all the muck and mire.

Billy, I... I don't know what to say.

But I guess I'll just have to keep being

my same jackass self and catch my plane.

I've got everybody out fanning the area. Couldn't have gotten far.

Well, well, well. Look at that.

DEMPSEY: Hey, what in the hell are you doing?

He got away from me.

What do you mean he got away from you?

What were you doing with him in the first place?

I saw his cage needed to be cleaned, so I cleaned it.

When I went in there, something spooked him,

he knocked me over and ran away.

I've been chasing him all over the city ever since.

How'd he get through the gate?

Jumped right over it. Oh, you should have seen.

All right. Nice job. Put him back inside.

Hey, when are we gonna put him in the pen?

Soon as we finish redoing the drainage.

Okay, come on.

Come on.

Hold on.

There you go.

You said you were gonna take care of him.

- I thought I had. - What happened?

- Who knows? - Look, we're better off anyway.

Oh, come on. This proves he's working for Ben Matlock.

He heard you talking about the llama yesterday,

so he stole him so they could have him checked out.

Yeah, and they didn't find anything.

That means they still go no idea what's going on.

Maybe we should get the stones out now.

No. We are going to remain calm.

As long as we keep our friend away from the cage,

we are home free. All right?

You stole a llama?

Just long enough to have him checked out by a vet.

He couldn't find anything, though.

- Nothing? - I'll tell you what I wanna know is,

who put the rattlesnake in my bed last night?

What did you say?

I said somebody put a rattlesnake...

There's Dem... Dempsey's coming. I gotta go.

Somebody put a rattlesnake in your bed?

- Yeah. Bye. - Cliff. Ugh.

LEANNE: Hi.

- Hello, Mr. Eagleton. - What are you doing here?

Hi, Mr. Dempsey. Good to see you again.

You just can't seem to get enough of this place, can you?

This harassment has got to stop. Now leave or I'll call the police.

No need. The police are right here.

Elliot Eagleton, Nick Dempsey,

I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Andrews.

He's with Homicide.

Gentlemen. We're looking for a friend of Miss Mclntyre's named Cliff Lewis.

- Never heard of him. - Oh, I have. He works here.

I hired him last week. Friend of yours, huh?

- Where is he? - Well, the last time I saw him

he was working on a pen for our new llama.

Come on, I'll take you over.

- What the hell is going on here? - Lewis.

Somebody here to see you.

- Is that him? - Yeah.

ANDREWS: He looks okay to me.

What, is there a problem?

You bet there is. See what's going on?

That man is a spy,

hired by Ben Matlock and his daughter to find something,

anything that would involve this zoo with his client's trial.

- Wheel barrows. - Wheel barrows?

Oh, it's this little story my dad told me once.

You see, there was this cement factory.

And every day, one of the guys who worked there

would leave with a wheel barrow full of sand.

Now, the guard figured the guy was stealing something,

so every day he would sift through the sand,

and every day he wouldn't find anything.

That went on for ten days.

Next day the guy quit.

Day after that, huh,

somebody went to the depot

to get a wheel barrow.

And what do you think?

No wheel barrows.

He'd stolen every last one of them.

What are you talking about?

It's not the llama, it's the cage.

- Hey, what are you doing? Stop that. - Hold it. Hold it.

Leanne, what are you doing?

[LEANNE GASPS]

Oh, raw, undeclared diamonds.

From Peru, maybe.

Wonder what they were gonna do with these?

[CHURCH BELLS RINGING IN DISTANCE]

[JACKHAMMER POUNDING]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

MAN: Take it easy. WOMAN: Goodbye.

MAN: Thanks for lunch.

Hi. What can I get you?

Uh, give me a real light beer.

Coming up.

We have mutual friends.

Oh, yeah? Who?

David Levine and Suzie Barron.

- David...? - Levine?

- And Suzie...? - Suzie Barron.

Barron.

- Never heard of them. - Sure you have.

I was at their house. There was nobody home,

but look what I found in the garbage.

Looks like they were regulars.

- Lots of people come here. - Yeah, but you called them.

That house they rented in Georgia. Left a message.

- I don't know what you're talking about. - Sure you do.

The church bells, jack hammer in the construction across the street.

Your accent. I know it was you.

You've had quite enough already. Get out.

Those people were killed.

But you obviously know that. You may be an accessory.

What, are you a cop?

No. But I know a lot of cops.

If you don't talk to me, I might introduce you to some of them.

Well, if Marvin Estes knew about the diamond smuggling,

why didn't he say something?

Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he just suspected

and said something to the wrong person.

- What are you doing? - I'm looking for whatever we missed.

My hands are really killing me. I got blisters all over them

from cleaning out all those animal cages.

Well, that's what you get.

There's got to be something in here.

- Did Marvin Estes wear glasses? - No.

Look at this.

Mr. Welker, Marvin Estes hired you to do what?

To be the curator of the children's zoo he owned.

And as curator, you decided

which animals would be bought and sold, that sort of thing.

- That was part of it, yes. - Mm-hm.

My client says that Mr. Estes believed

that something untoward was going on at the children's zoo.

Did he ever say anything about that to you?

No, never.

How about your friends, Mr. Eagleton, Mr. Dempsey?

You think he might have mentioned it to one of them?

WELKER: Not as far as I know.

So Mr. Estes had no idea

that you and your friends were smuggling diamonds

into the country in cages of imported animals.

- Objection. WELKER: I don't have to answer.

MATLOCK: I'll rephrase.

You, Mr. Eagleton and Mr. Dempsey

were arrested last week on what charge?

- Smuggling. - So something untoward

was going on at the children's zoo.

Just because we were charged doesn't mean we're guilty.

Oh, I can't argue with that, no, I can't. Can't argue with that. No, no.

Uh, who would you say, uh, was Mr. Estes' best friend?

Me, probably.

So you knew that he was capable of some pretty strange behavior.

Everyone around him knew that.

But you were the only one who knew

this Theresa Lavelle person didn't exist, right?

No, I thought she existed.

You didn't visit his boat one day and accidentally come across

one of those letters he had typed to himself?

WELKER: No.

MATLOCK: I'll bet you your friend and Mr. Estes' lawyer, Mr. Eagleton,

told you that Marvin Estes had left his entire estate

to a woman named Theresa Lavelle, right?

Yes. But...

MATLOCK: You didn't tell him she didn't exist.

Because that's when you came up with your big plan.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Make sure that Marvin Estes

would never point the finger at your smuggling operation.

And by bringing in a phony Theresa Lavelle,

you saw your opportunity to get your hands on that $200 million.

That is a lie.

I never lie in court, Mr. Welker.

Never. I know better.

Never lie in court.

Tell us, uh... Tell us who Alvin Leacock is.

- I'm sorry, Alvin who? - The gentleman right over there.

He's from Galveston.

And he's prepared to testify that Suzie Barron,

the woman who impersonated Theresa Lavelle, was a friend of his.

And that he's a friend of yours too.

You wanna tell us the rest of it, Mr. Welker?

- There's nothing to tell. MATLOCK: Come on now.

Tell us how Mr. Leacock recruited Suzie Barron

and David Levine to play her husband for you.

Tell us how he acted as a go-between

so there could never be any connection between you and them.

Tell us how you used him to tell them

all the things that were typed in all those letters,

knowing that people like me would use that

to track down this Theresa person.

You wanna tell us, Mr. Welker? If you don't, he will.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[CHUCKLING]

You broke into a car that night, set off the alarm,

to lure the guard off Marvin Estes' boat.

- No. - A car in which you placed

a credit-card receipt that you had stolen

- from my client's office to frame him. - That's not true, either.

After the guard left the boat, you went aboard, wearing a wetsuit.

- No. - You... You had with you

the bottle of sleeping pills that you got with a phony prescription.

You found a bottle of Scotch in the bar.

A bottle on which my client

had the misfortune to leave his fingerprints earlier that day.

You took that bottle of Scotch, of course,

wearing the gloves from your wetsuit. No fingerprints.

You went below, where Marvin Estes lay asleep.

You grabbed his head and started forcing sleeping pills in his mouth

- and washing them down with Scotch. - No.

You forced sleeping pill after sleeping pill down his throat

till he finally passed out.

Then you went upstairs to the salon,

found the typewriter, grabbed your mask,

went up to the deck, threw the typewriter in the bay,

so that no one would ever know

that Theresa Lavelle was a figment of Marvin Estes' imagination.

Then you jumped in the bay yourself and made your escape.

No. Not one word of that is true.

Every word of it's true and I can prove it.

We found this mask

on Marvin Estes' yacht three days ago,

it was removed by the police with a warrant.

Everybody assumed it belonged to Marvin Estes

because he was such an avid scuba diver.

But it didn't. It belongs to you.

You were in such a hurry to leave the scene of the crime,

you picked up the wrong mask, didn't you?

- That's not my mask. - Yes, it is.

These lenses were specially ground for a nearsighted person.

Marvin Estes had perfect eyesight.

Didn't even need to wear reading glasses.

You're nearsighted.

It isn't my mask.

The record at Merrill Opticians on Larime Street,

where these lenses were specially ground and fitted, show that it is.

All right, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen mine around the house.

Maybe it is my mask.

Look, I probably left it there the last time Marvin and I went diving.

When was that?

- A couple of weeks before his death. - No.

According to Merrill Opticians,

this mask was picked up the afternoon Marvin Estes was murdered.

I guess you knew you'd be needing it that night.

Wanna try it on, see how it fits?

[SINGING INDISTINCTLY]

Well, here they come.

I got mustard, ketchup, relish, sauerkraut.

- A man after my own heart. - Oh, there you go.

BILLY: Hey, Ben?

Hope you like this one.

Where do you want me to plant it? It's gotta be in the sun, you know.

It's kind of dead.

Just needs some water.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's a cashier's check.

Good news is you can cash it any time.

The bad news is there are 27 distant relatives

suing for a share of Uncle Marvin's estate.

- Twenty-seven? - Mm-hm.

They just keep crawling out of the woodwork.

It's gonna be a while before you get your cut.

Several decades.

BILLY: Water pressure's low. I'll fix it. - Don't bother.

BILLY: One turn of the wrench, Ben, that's all it'll take.

- What is he doing? - Oh, he's trying to repay me but...

He doesn't know anything about plumbing.

Billy, no.