Original subtitles

Good afternoon, Mr. Sutton.

All right, this letter is to Governor

Adelson, state capital.

Dear Joe, just read the legislature plans to extend

the new school bond issue.

That's a big mistake, Joe.

My papers and broadcasting interests

can't support that, or any legislator who does.

I suggest you put the word out to your people.

Now, there's an election coming up, Joe,

and I'm disinclined to help faint hearts.

Paragraph.

All right, let's play some golf next time you

and Sue come down state Sincerely, Archie and so forth.

Beautiful day, Mr. Sutton.

Yes.

Yes, it is.

I don't think I'll be going back to the office

this afternoon, William.

Yes sir, Mr. Sutton.

Sara.

Good afternoon, Mr. Sutton.

Afternoon, Sara.

Will Mrs. Sutton be joining you for lunch, sir?

Uh, she'll be down in a minute, Sara.

Oh, uh, Sara, serve her first.

She's, uh, late to a hospital charity auction.

Yes, sir.

Perfect weather for the auction.

We should make a considerable sum for the hospital.

Oh, and thank you, darling, for helping us with all that

marvelous publicity.

Well, it was no great task, since I own both the newspapers

and the TV station.

Oh, I know, Art.

But nowadays, with the independent attitude

of editors and reporters, well, ownership

doesn't seem to matter much.

Oh, which reminds me, I spoke to my brother Henry yesterday.

As you know, he's decided to run for the Senate again.

So we must do our best to support his efforts, hm?

Now, haven't I always done my very best for your brother?

Well, I must say, you've always been very good about it.

It's just that, well, Henry's getting older.

And he has a very young and attractive opponent, so we must

be even more clever this time.

Oh, and Archie, please be discreet in your--

your relationships with people, hm?

Martha, my relationships are a figment of your imagination.

Not quite, dear.

There was that young woman.

But that young woman, to all intents and purposes,

doesn't exist.

She's happily married, has two children, lives in Brazil.

Why do you keep dragging up a minor indiscretion

that ended 10 years ago?

Because that minor indiscretion

almost cost Henry his seat in the Senate.

Oh, there's Kara.

I'll probably join her for dinner,

dear, so don't wait for me.

You have a successful auction, dear.

Thank you, dear.

Hello?

How you doing, Arch?

Just called to remind you that you

are a tad bit behind in your, shall we call it, contribution.

I told you never to call me here-- never!

Marla, I've been very generous with you, much more generous

than those other victims of--

uh, Sara, would you do that later, please?

All right, now look, you've broken our agreement.

Well, prices are going up, Archie.

There is that thing called inflation, you know.

Inflation?

Are you insane?

Marla, I am fed up with this blackmail business.

Do you understand me?

Fed up!

Now, you'll get your usual payment today, and that's it.

He's in a terrible rage.

Price of gold must have fallen.

It's not what's falling, it's what's going

up that's got him snarling.

Probably his blood pressure.

His girlfriend-- ex-girlfriend, that is.

She wants more money.

He's about to bust.

Yeah, that's some nervy woman, that Ms. Marla Scanlon.

Seems to me, she's been blackmailing

him now for about two years--

$2,000 a month, I imagine.

I imagine she saved herself a pretty penny

for her retirement.

I imagine it's a good deal more than we've

put away for ours, William.

Now, don't go worrying yourself

about that again, Sara.

Doing the best I can.

I know, William.

But the best don't seem to matter.

It won't get us that sweet, little,

Rocky Mountain farmhouse cousin Lee showed

us last time we was home.

Now, Sara, you married a simple, Rocky Mountain boy.

I never claimed to be clever.

Just gonna have to make do.

Yes sir, Mr. Sutton.

I'll be right down, sir.

Ask him, William.

Maybe he'll give you a little raise.

And that way, we could send a little something to cousin

Lee every month for the house--

please.

William, do it for me.

I don't want to die being a maid in somebody else's home.

I want to live out my days and get

buried in the foothills of the beautiful,

Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Sara, I'll try.

I'll try.

I'll ask him, Sara.

Come in, William.

Same place, same person, sir?

Same place, same person.

William, I appreciate your discretion on this matter.

Not at all, Mr. Sutton.

Mr. Sutton, sir?

Well, Sara and I, we--

we haven't forgot how good you treated us two--

two Rocky Mountain hillbillies.

You gave us good jobs and a decent place to stay.

Well, that's-- that's perfectly all right, William.

Well, Sara and me, we've been talking

about maybe in a few years or so going back up to the mountains.

And--

Well, um-- uh, perhaps we can talk

about that some other time.

I suspect our friend is waiting for her, uh--

um, honorarium.

Sir?

The envelope.

Oh, yes.

Well, uh, I suppose we can talk about that other matter later.

Good.

Good, William.

You sure are a pretty, little house.

What's a matter, William?

You-- you did go to Marla Scanlon's apartment.

Yes, sir.

She was there?

Yes, sir.

She wouldn't accept the money?

That's right, sir.

William, I simply can't believe it.

Well, she's-- uh--

she's dead.

Dead?

How?

Looked to me like--

like someone strangled her to death.

I didn't hang around to make sure.

There-- there was a scarf lying next to her and--

some mean bruises around her neck.

I see.

She wasn't that same fine-looking female,

no sir, lying dead like that on the living room floor.

No, I imagine not.

Well, she don't look so fine now, Mr. Sutton.

Was she alone in the apartment?

I reckon.

I-- I didn't feel the urge to poke around.

I just took a quick look at her and figured

I'd hightail it out of there.

Well, she was alive three hours ago.

She called me just before I came out here.

Now, I gave you the envelope.

And you went to her apartment, found her dead.

That means she-- she must have been killed between 2:00

and 5:00 this afternoon.

There could have been a lot of traffic

in and out of that apartment in that amount

of time, Mr. Sutton.

Oh no, not today.

Today, she was expecting a caller with an envelope.

Did you see anybody when you came out of the building?

No, sir.

Did you talk to anybody?

Phone anybody?

Not a soul, Mr. Sutton.

Good.

You're a good man, William.

Thank you, sir.

I try to be.

And that'll be all, Mr. Sutton?

Uh, yes, that's all for now. Uh, You can go.

Uh, William, meet me in my study in about a half hour.

A half hour--

yes, sir.

Uh, William, you look pale.

Are you all right?

She's dead.

Dead?

Dead?

Who is dead?

Ms. Marla Scanlon, that's who.

Oh, I didn't know she was ill.

No, she wasn't ill.

Not ill?

Then how?

Murdered-- Strangled with her pretty, little scarf.

Does Mr. Sutton know?

Yeah, he does.

I told him, and I returned the money.

Oh, William, that was foolish.

You should have kept it and never said a thing.

They'd have found the tramp sooner or later.

Mr. Sutton woulda had no reason to think you hadn't

just made your usual delivery.

That money would have made a nice down payment

on cousin Lee's house.

Hi, Judge?

Art Sutton.

I think you better get over to my place real quick.

That's right, right away.

Well, Arch, what's the mystery?

I have a dinner engagement that--

Well, you may not want any dinner when

you hear what I've got to say.

Now, to avoid a lot of repetition,

let's, uh, wait for the State's attorney to get here.

Bob Grenich?

Now what's he to do with this?

Well, Bob.

I just hear my name?

Hello, Judge, Archie.

Well, what have I got to do with what?

I don't understand what's going on.

You will in a minute.

William, could you close the door, please?

Gentlemen-- oh, by the way, gentlemen, uh, William

is aware of some of the circumstances of the situation,

and he's completely trustworthy.

Go on, William.

Um, Ms. Marla Scanlon is dead.

Marla Scanlon?

Yes, um-- how did she die?

Murdered, I reckon.

By what means?

Looked to me like she'd been choked to death.

When?

Sometime between 2:00 and 5:00 today.

What makes you think I'd have any interest in this?

Until, of course, the murderer is apprehended

and I act in an official capacity.

I hardly know Marla Scanlon.

Oh, come off it, Bob.

Marla Scanlon was blackmailing all three of us.

My information tells me she restricted her activities

to just the three of us.

I categorically deny any involvement.

Will you please shut up?

Now, none of us is on trial-- not yet.

Now, we are the three who might have killed her.

And it's reasonably certain that one of us did.

Judge, she was milking you the longest.

I was the next victim.

And you were last, Bob.

Now between us, over--

over a period of time, we contributed

something like $100,000.

It's a pity we didn't tell the income tax people

about all that stashed cash.

They would have taken her off our backs.

And our hides along with it.

How did you find out about this?

About me, I mean.

Well, Bob, that's a silly question.

I mean, it's not difficult when you own two newspapers

and the television station.

Besides, I'm still one of the best reporters in the business.

All right, it's laid out among the three of us.

We were her patsies--

adrift, you might say, in the same leaky boat.

Now it remains to be seen whether or not

we have a ..

Unfortunately I don't have an alibi

for the three hours between 2:00 and 5:00 this afternoon.

Do you, Bob?

What?

Where were you between 2:00 and 5:00 this afternoon?

Well, I was--

Go on, Bob.

Well, I-- I didn't go in, you understand.

A half a block away, I turned the car.

I didn't go all the way to her apartment.

You went to see Marla Scanlon?

Well, yes, I was going to appeal to her, prove to her

I couldn't afford that blackmail tariff any longer.

I was going to persuade her that she'd

just have to be satisfied with less money or no money at all.

I just couldn't scrape the cash up anymore.

I'm not as well heeled as you two.

But you got cold feet?

You didn't actually see her?

No, and that's the truth, Art.

You've got to believe me.

Whether we believe you or not is of no consequence.

The important thing is, you have no alibi.

How about you, Arch?

Well, she called me about 2:00 to remind

me that it was a pay day.

I-- I sent William out on his errand,

and I took a long walk out in the woods back of my place.

And, uh, in fact, when William found me,

I was examining some ferns.

So any of the three of us might have killed her.

Well, I didn't do it.

But if-- if this scandal brushes off on me, I'm ruined.

The three of us are ruined.

You know, there are a lot of people

down at City Hall and police headquarters

who would love to have our scalps.

And we're not going to hush up anything as big as murder,

even if Arch does own the press and the TV.

Well, precisely.

You know, Bob, sometimes you almost make

me think you have a mind and along with the cunning

you've shown in the political jungle.

You know, gentlemen, the truth is, there's

no way we can cover this thing.

So, Arch, what do you propose?

Well, what I propose is an unbreakable

gentleman's agreement.

Whichever one of the three of us is nailed,

we'll have to bear the brunt of the entire thing.

He can't call on his friends for help.

And he can't implicate them in any way.

He must stand by his statement that he, and he alone,

was involved with Marla Scanlon.

Now, the doomed man would at least

then have the satisfaction of knowing

that he shielded his friends.

That might be rough, Arch.

When a man is slapped with a murder charge,

the natural tendency is to name others

to confuse the issue to direct suspicion elsewhere.

Well, I know.

That's why I've asked you all to come here.

I think we have to do decide in advance.

I think we have to agree that the two who escape

will stand by the loser's loved ones.

Um, Mr. Sutton, sir?

Yes, William?

Well, while-- while you all were talking, I was thinking.

I got an idea.

Now, William, we have more important things to consider

than any ideas you might-- - Bob-- Bob, please.

Please, we have nothing to lose by listening.

Go on, William.

Thank you, sir.

Gentlemen, Mr. Sutton's been--

been real good to me and the wife, Sara--

giving us a chance when we first come

down from the Rocky Mountains.

We have no time for these asinine, emotional speeches.

Well, I'm sorry, sir.

My speech is done.

I-- I just want Mr. Sutton to know one of the reasons

why I'd be willing to do all of you

the favor of standing trial for Marla Scanlon's murder.

Well, I am--

I'm touched, William.

But I suspect that you're not finished.

Uh, no sir, Mr. Sutton, not quite.

You see, you three are kind of sitting on top of the world,

so to speak.

I mean, fine homes, and families, reputations,

country clubs, and all that sort of thing.

You stand to lose a whole parcel.

Now me, all I got is Sara.

And, well, let's say I never did have a chance before to really

put together some real money.

How much?

Well, you all been paying Ms. Marla Scanlon plenty.

One final payment to me would finish it all up.

If you each just chipped in about $10,000 a piece, I--

I'd take care of your little problem for you.

William, how do you propose to do this?

Well, with your newspapers and television station

being on my side, and Judge Corday here doing the judging,

and Mr. Grenich here doing the prosecuting, I should--

I should come out all right.

Go on.

Well, I could--

I could say that I'd been fooling

around with Ms. Marla Scanlon, and she

was about to boot me out.

And I'd say that we had a big fight, and I lost my head

and killed her--

without meaning to.

Nobody gonna-- nobody gonna miss Marla Scanlon around this town.

And nobody's going to question or suspect what you do.

I figure Judge will give me three years for manslaughter.

I behave real good and probably be out on parole within a year.

And then?

I'll just-- just take my $30,000

and go on back to Colorado.

I don't think any of us has to worry about any

of the others going back on the deal,

on account we're all in this together.

I figured together we sink or swim.

I think we have a deal.

You think it'll be just a year you'll be away?

I know it ain't longer than that, Sara.

Even the Judge himself agreed.

Well, I guess I can manage that time without you.

Sara, it's-- it was the only way we'd get enough money to--

to buy cousin Lee's farm.

How much are they paying you?

$30,000

A piece?

The lot.

The lot?

I think you made a bad deal, William.

$30,000 will hardly pay for cousin Lee's farm.

And there won't be anything left over to live on.

That's true enough, Sara.

But this $100,000 I got from Marla

Scanlon's wall safe after I strangled her, it--

it should do nicely.

Oh, yes, nicely indeed.

I think there'll a bit leftover for a quiet retirement

at the beautiful, Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Yes sir, Sara.

Well, that $100,000 oughta pay for cousin

Lee's farm, even a bit more.

Yes indeed, I do believe.