Original subtitles

The plain truth is, I think she's quite capable of murder.

You'd like to see me dead, wouldn't you, Ed?

Yes.

She's got the whole family here.

She plans to kill everybody.

Poison.

You killed her!

You killed her, Eddie.

Well, how do they know you didn't pay me to kill them?

Somebody help!

What is it?

I don't know, Eddie, I don't know

I don't know, I don't know...

don't know.

In the desert people have a hard time living.

They need water, need shade otherwise they die.

Mostly people stay away.

I was in the desert because I wanted to talk to a lady named Lettie Maize.

She was in the desert because that was where she owned a gold mine.

Her house was built right on top of it.

Come out of there.

What do you call this? Western hospitality?

Are you armed?

No.

We'll see about that.

Turn around.

Put your hands on the car.

What are you looking for?

Who are you?

My name is Harry Orwell.

Are you Letty Mays?

Yes, I am. What do you want?

Your family's worried about you.

My family's worried about me.

Turn around.

You're not a doctor, not with those hands.

Doctors always have clean fingernails.

You're certainly not a lawyer.

Lawyers are always overdressed.

What is your line of work?

I'm a private detective.

I see.

They've had me in litigation for five years,

trying to break my father's will.

What do they expect you to do?

They think you might try to kill someone.

Why would I do that?

Because you're afraid someone might try to kill you.

Which one of them was it that sent you?

I think they were all interested in me coming out here to talk to you.

But as to the one that hired me, that's confidential.

Well, handsome.

If I shoot you, that's the way it's going to stay.

If you shoot me, that pretty much proves their point, doesn't it?

Come over here. I want to show you something.

That's my dog's grave.

Bella.

I loved her very much.

I fed her from my own plate.

Three days ago, I fed her,

then something was boiling over in the kitchen, I went in there.

When I came back, she was dead. Poisoned.

It was meant for me.

Better get on your way.

You got a car?

I don't drive.

Have you got a phone?

I don't like phones.

I can't walk.

You can try.

How do you get supplies out of here?

Truck comes once a week.

When's the next truck?

In a week.

Yes, there'll be 140 out there.

I can't let you do it.

Come on inside.

My family are coming today.

They'll stay all night.

You can go back with one of them tomorrow.

They're freeloaders.

All of them.

And I don't like freeloaders.

You stay here, you pay me five dollars a day board in advance.

They all live off of me.

Provisions of the will, I hold the purse strings.

I make them come here once a year

to take their handouts in person.

That's a little humiliating, isn't it?

No more than it is for me.

They're trying to prove me incompetent.

Getting a little of their own back.

How many of them are coming?

Four of them.

Helen, Loretta, my sisters,

Zachary, my brother,

and the little one, Jeff, my grandnephew.

One of them is trying to kill me.

Or maybe they're all in it together.

What do you think?

I haven't met them all.

You're lucky.

The world would be a better place without them.

That's the truth.

Bet you wouldn't kill them.

I would if I could get away with it.

How much do you weigh?

Strict.

180.

I bet it's all muscle.

Brother Zachary.

Colonel Zachary Mays.

Retired?

Dishonorably discharged.

The whole thing was rigged.

He was innocent.

No.

He should have been sent to prison

for trafficking in stolen army property

during the war.

Well, Helen, what have you brought with you this time?

Litter.

I feel it's my duty

to keep the wilderness unspoiled.

Clean it up!

I have cleaned it up.

They're trying to prove me incompetent.

Shut up!

Don't you speak to Loretta that way.

Well, then you tell her to shut up.

And don't you tell me what to do, Letty Mays.

I don't care anything about your money.

The only reason I came here

is to take care of Loretta.

Well, then why don't you get down there

and help her clean it up?

Now what do you think?

I think I need a drink.

Right over here.

My sister tells me

you're a private detective.

That's right.

I don't know which of the family hired you,

but I welcome your presence.

Thank you.

To your health.

I understand you and Letty

don't get on too well.

That's an understatement.

My sister is not of sound mind.

You must realize that.

She thinks someone's trying to kill her.

Well, that's a familiar symptom, isn't it?

She said her food was poisoned.

She fed it to the dog first

and the dog died.

I'm sure that's true.

I'm equally sure she poisoned

the dog herself.

Colonel, people are very strange

about animals.

You see it all the time,

but in my whole life,

I never heard of anyone poisoning his own dog.

That's a first.

Have you ever met my sister before?

No.

That's another first.

Don't be taken in.

I'm going to tell you something

for what it's worth.

Now, it's no secret

that there's no love lost

between my sister Letty and me.

But the plain truth is

I think she's quite capable of murder.

Breeze coming up.

Might cool things off.

You know,

there's an old Indian saying out here,

the wind is so dry

it could kill a man

without blowing out a candle.

Can I give you a hand with that?

No, I think I can manage.

As a matter of fact, I'd rather enjoy it.

Chopping meat?

No, cooking for a lot of people.

Oh, that must be your employer.

Stands to reason.

I heard the other three

trying to figure out who hired you.

At first they thought it was me.

Go answer the door.

Tell Jeff to pay your bill

and drive you home.

My rent's paid until tomorrow.

Hi.

Well, this is Harry Orwell, honey.

Does my aunt know?

I mean, that I sent her?

I think she figured it out.

What is that woman doing here?

You invited her.

I did not.

I told you never to bring that,

that person here again.

You sent her a wire.

You asked her to come.

Otherwise, why would she be here?

All right, all right, she can stay.

But you keep out of my sight until dinner time.

Come on, honey.

One big happy family.

Jeff, you sit over there.

Helen, you sit beside him.

Loretta, you sit over there.

Go on.

And you,

you come and sit right here

by me, Dick Tracy.

And you,

you sit here by me.

And you sit across from Jeff

as far from me as possible.

I don't want anything from you.

I only came here out of courtesy

because of your telegram.

I didn't send you a telegram.

I told you that.

Then I'd like to leave.

You'd like to see me dead,

wouldn't you, Ann?

Yes.

You'd like to see us all dead.

Yes.

But then you hate them all

as much as I do.

Ann!

Please sit down.

Uh, where's the Colonel?

Oh, my brother Zachary

hasn't been on time for a meal

since he was two.

I'll go find him.

Sit down.

We'll go ahead without him.

Maybe he didn't hear the bell.

Last time he was late,

I told him the next time

I would cut his allowance.

And this time, I'm going to do it.

Come on, Colonel.

Come on.

Colonel Zachary Mays was dead.

Ergo, one of these nice

and not-so-nice people

was who did it.

Ann Mays hated all of them.

That was clear.

Her reasons weren't.

Now, Jeff Mays hired me.

Probably that put him in the clear.

Loretta Mays didn't look

strong enough to lift a spoon,

but the Colonel didn't get killed

with a spoon, of course.

Now, Helen Mays probably

could have played football

with the Rams.

On the other hand,

she was against littering.

If you include dead brothers

under littering,

which adds up to all of them.

They all had motive.

They all had opportunity.

The only thing I was willing

to swear to was I didn't do it.

You did it.

Don't be ridiculous, Helen.

If I wanted to kill somebody

in the family, I'd start with you.

Oh, shut up.

Lettie, I'm warning you.

Are you warning me

or are you threatening me?

All right, hold it down.

I'd like to know where each of you was

before the dinner bell.

I was upstairs in our room.

Were you with Jeff?

No, I was outside.

What were you doing?

Getting some things from the car.

Did anyone see you?

I saw him from the window

just before the dinner bell.

How convenient.

Why don't you ask where Helen was?

I was in my room.

Was Loretta with you?

Yes, she was sleeping.

With you for company,

I was in the kitchen

preparing dinner for a bunch of freeloaders.

Alone?

Where were you, Sherlock?

What were you doing all that time?

We can't leave him that way.

It isn't decent.

What are you going to do?

Well, we should cover him.

No, no, you leave him alone.

The police don't want you to touch anything.

Come on, let's all get out of here.

Where will we go?

I don't know about the rest of you,

but I'm going back to dinner.

Why?

Because I think they're going to be at each other

with you there.

And later you'll be at me.

That's right, you can handle it better.

I think he's right.

All right.

And you, what do you want?

Do you want to sit down?

No, I'm fine.

One of us is going to have to go for the sheriff.

I guess it's me.

Give me your car keys.

You stay here and keep everyone happy.

Thank you.

I thought you went for the sheriff.

Your car won't start.

Use the station wagon.

Your car won't start either.

Maybe it would help if you had the keys.

Somebody took the rotors.

What's the rotor?

They make the car go.

Do I see any greasy fingers?

Only yours.

You'll have to wash your hands if you want dinner.

I lost my appetite.

We're trapped here.

Unless you want to walk.

Helen, I'm scared.

Stop whining.

Are you going to leave her alone?

Wait a minute.

What's the matter?

Who set the table?

What does that have to do with anything?

Who set the table?

I did, I set my own table.

What's wrong with it?

The table was set for six.

It works out pretty well, doesn't it, Einstein?

There were seven for dinner.

You may have forgotten that Ann was not invited.

Somebody sent her that telegram.

I looked at the people around the table,

and I thought better times we could all be friends.

Then I thought, no, not all.

Well, all except one.

Let's get downstairs, everybody.

Come on, downstairs.

Come on.

All right, downstairs, everybody.

Here.

Come on, get out of here.

Ann?

What is it?

What's the matter, Strongheart?

You're not afraid to be alone in the dark?

What happened to the colonel?

Where's Brother Zachary?

He isn't with us anymore, don't you remember?

No, I mean his body.

What happened to him?

I put Zachary to bed upstairs in his room.

You carried him upstairs all by yourself?

No, I dragged him.

Seemed the only decent thing to do.

I don't care to sit here for a week

with my dead brother in the parlor.

You could have covered him with a sheet.

I did cover him with a sheet, dear Lettie.

When did you do all this?

While you were snooping around outside.

Just what were you doing out there, Hawkeye?

Lettie, the police would prefer you don't touch anything

at the scene of a crime.

The police work for me.

I don't work for them.

They have their way of doing things.

I think my record is better.

I don't know about the rest of you

when I'm going upstairs and go back to bed.

Come along, Loretta.

Poor Zachary missed dinner.

Jeff, can I talk to you?

You go ahead, honey. I won't be long.

Good night, Mr. Orwell.

Well, what did I tell you? She's crazy.

Lettie thinks somebody's trying to kill her.

She's always saying that.

What happened to your car?

The radiator, right?

I told you she's dangerous.

Are there keys to the rooms upstairs?

Yeah, there's a master key in the kitchen.

It fits all the inside doors.

Show me.

What are you going to do?

Try to keep you people from killing yourselves

until the delivery truck gets here.

That's a week from now.

We have food and power.

I hired you to come out here

and see for yourself how crazy she is.

Where's the key?

Over here.

She said she wanted us all dead.

I want you to do something.

Does this key fit all the rooms upstairs?

Yeah.

Oh, I get it.

You're going to lock her in her room.

Don't you think it's unfair to single her out?

No.

Don't you see what she's doing?

She's got the whole family here

and she plans to kill everybody.

That's why she sent for Ann.

That's why she wrecked the car.

It's too simple, too obvious.

What are you talking about?

I saw the bullet hole she put in your windshield

and I'm surprised you're alive.

You're not disappointed, I hope.

What are you going to do with that key?

I'm going to lock you all in your room.

It wasn't exactly a maximum security installation,

but they had me out there on guard,

sleepless, vigilant, tough, experienced,

single-minded in my watch.

Dad!

What is it?

We gathered in the parlor

and everybody looked at everybody else.

Some thinking they might get killed next,

and one thinking how to do just that.

Could have been an accident,

but if it was,

you planned it.

If I wanted to kill Jeff,

I certainly wouldn't leave it to chance.

What do you think, bright eyes?

Do you think that...

Do you think that Jeff went to the well once too often?

Stop it.

Jeff.

Jeff!

Jeff!

Jeff is dead, dear.

Ann, how did he get out of the room?

I don't know.

Didn't you hear him leave?

I didn't hear anything.

I woke up and he was gone.

There must be more than one key.

Well, there are lots of keys.

I have one right here.

There's at least one in every room.

Did you think that I was going to let you

lock me up in my own house?

I don't know about the rest of you.

I'm going to go and have breakfast.

Ann.

We can't just leave him there.

We have to do something.

We're going to cover up the well.

Here's the way we're going to do it.

We're all going to stay in this room in plain sight of each other

until the delivery truck comes.

If anyone has to leave the room, they leave alone.

What about nights?

You're going to lock us all in our rooms again?

Yeah, and I'm going to sit there with this.

Even you have to sleep sometime.

Anyhow,

how do we know that you're not the killer?

Any one of them could have hired you to do it.

As far as I know, they did pay you to do it.

Well, how do they know you didn't pay me to kill them?

Step in here, wagon master. I want to talk to you a minute.

It's Ann.

She killed her own husband.

Killed him? She's been trying to divorce him for years.

Divorce is easy.

Not when you want all the money.

Well, you don't like her.

I don't like divorce. That's why I don't like her.

Well, you sent for her.

I did not send for her. I told you that. She's lying.

Now, drink this, Loretta.

Oh, no.

No, I couldn't.

No, no. Drink it for Helen.

That's it.

Good girl.

Now, take your medicine.

That's much better.

I want to see the telegram you got.

I don't have it.

You know as well as I do that telegrams aren't delivered anymore.

They telephoned me.

Letty said you wanted a divorce.

I thought she'd get around to that.

Did you want a divorce?

Yes.

What stopped you?

Jeff. He loved me.

He asked if we could start again.

I said yes.

She told you it was the money, didn't she?

Yeah.

That old fool.

Doesn't she realize I'd have to kill off the

entire family before I collected anything?

That seems to be what's happening.

All I'm saying is it would be much better if the two of you slept in separate rooms.

There are no separate rooms.

What do you expect me to do? Spend the night with Brother Zachary?

You can use my room. I won't need it. I'm going to be out here in the hall.

Well, if you really think it's necessary...

Oh, no, no. Please don't leave me.

Miss Mays, you don't understand.

Don't let him separate us, please.

You heard my sister. I'm sorry.

Good night.

Would you mind closing the door?

You really think that would make any difference?

It would make me feel better.

Then close it.

I tell you, it's Letty.

I mean, it stands to reason.

She killed Zachary. She killed Jeff.

I mean, it couldn't be Anne. What would she get out of it?

I certainly didn't kill them.

And you couldn't kill a fly.

Well, aren't you coming to bed?

I thought I'd just finish a few more squares.

It's going to be a scarf, Helen.

I'm making it for you.

Maybe that is a good idea. Maybe we should take turns sleeping.

Whatever you say, dear.

Good night, Loretta.

Good night, Helen.

Wherefore art thou, Hario?

I brought you a sandwich and a glass of milk.

How did you get downstairs?

Probably while you were in the bathroom. Go ahead and take it.

It's liable to be a long night.

A man gets hungry, it's a woman's job to make sure that he's well fed.

That works both ways.

I didn't go to the bathroom.

You ought to see a doctor about that.

Not natural.

Oh, I'm sorry, Loretta.

I slept through the whole night.

You should have gotten me up.

You killed her!

You killed her, Lettie.

You always hated her, and now you've killed her,

and I swear to goodness, I'm going to...

Wait for me.

Leave me alone.

Leave me alone.

Where are you going?

Does it make any difference?

She's going to kill us all no matter what we do.

Unless we kill her first.

Quite a performance, wasn't it?

Lettie, your sister's dead. Don't you feel anything?

I never cared for her, I told you that.

You don't have normal feelings, do you?

Is that what you think?

You see somebody who lives alone in the desert, a recluse.

You think that's not natural.

Maybe they're not right, maybe they're warped.

Maybe I am.

Or maybe I'm just one of those people who never shows the feelings.

Why is Helen so sure you killed her?

Because Loretta stole the only man I ever loved.

I was only married three years to him when she ran off with him.

There was an accident and he was killed.

That's why I live alone in the desert.

Does Helen know that?

Of course she knows that.

Then she has every reason to think the way she does.

She doesn't really think that.

Just a minute, wait till I show you this.

What's that?

Here, look at these clippings.

Look at those reviews.

Helen was an actress on Broadway.

She was on the New York stage for ten years.

And I said that she was giving a performance.

That's exactly what I meant.

If I were doing the murders,

I would have killed Helen instead.

Turn the page.

Letty was an actress too.

So which one is giving the performance?

More potatoes.

No, thanks.

I see you didn't forget my mineral water.

More chicken.

No, thanks.

There goes the generator.

There's a kerosene lamp on the sideboard.

Poison.

Nick the Greek would give you two to one.

It was Letty Mays.

But if anything happened to Letty,

Anne would inherit.

Now, Anne liked money.

That's why Jeff owed so much.

Seven to five, either way.

Letty.

What happened?

The well's been poisoned.

She did it.

Did she?

Well, I'm the one here getting the water.

The one that fed it to the cat.

That's so, isn't it?

It doesn't matter, really.

A few days in this heat,

no water,

no power for the air conditioning.

All three of us will be dead anyway.

You want some of this?

No.

Come on.

Well, at least we have plenty of water.

Yeah, not anymore.

The well's been poisoned.

No, that's all right.

It's from the refrigerator.

We can't last, can we?

Can't we?

Gets up to 140 out there.

With the generator gone,

there's no air conditioning.

We're gonna die.

Jeff said she was gonna kill us all.

He was right.

I warned you, that water's poisoned.

Not if you don't drink it.

The evaporation will help cool off the room.

You sound as if you expect to come out of this alive.

Don't you?

I've lived in the desert.

20 years.

Where are you going?

I'm going upstairs

and prepare to die.

Die?

Are you all right, Lenny?

I'm all right.

Let me help you upstairs.

I don't need help.

I don't care.

Leave me alone, please.

Can I get you anything?

Well,

there's some medicine there by my bed.

What is it?

Sana.

She's the one.

I told you.

She's the one.

Ann?

Ann!

All right, tell me about the medicine.

What medicine?

The cyanide in Lenny's medicine.

She dead?

No.

That's too bad.

Tell me about it.

You think I did it, don't you?

Well, I didn't do it.

Tell me what happened.

Well, she fell down the stairs.

I picked her up, took her to her room.

She asked for a medicine.

I took a sniff of the bottle.

It was cyanide.

You say she fell down?

That's what I said.

That's why you helped her upstairs.

She didn't want me to.

But you did.

And you brought her the medicine.

She asked me to get it.

The odor of cyanide is pretty strong.

Not particularly.

And people hold their breath when they take medicine.

She could have taken it and not known what it was.

I think she put it there herself.

For you to find.

To make you suspect me.

You see, it's a game.

Just like poor Jeff said.

She's crazy, Mr. Orwell.

And now she's going to kill us.

She died too?

Will she?

Or is there water here that we don't know about?

All the commotion.

Anne's gone.

I told you all along it was Anne.

Lenny, why that shot through my windshield the other day?

What are you talking about?

The shot you fired through my windshield.

It wasn't me.

I wouldn't have missed.

Jeff.

What?

Jeff hired me to come out here and talk to you.

He said you were sick, you needed care.

That isn't why he hired me.

He knew you'd fire a shot at a stranger.

So he really set me up to be killed.

Make it look like you'd done it.

He only needed to put you away.

Jeff fired the shot.

He and Anne are in it together.

But Jeff is dead.

Is he?

There's probably an old tunnel.

This place is riddled with them.

From the gold mines.

It was simple enough for him to put the rotor back in his car.

You figured everything out, Houdini.

Just a little late.

No water.

No power.

50 mile walk to the nearest highway.

There's no way.

You know, it's a funny thing.

They weren't much as people go.

But they were the only family I had.

Guess I'm gonna miss them.

For a little while, at least.

You surprised to find out that I'm human?

Welcome to the club, Letty.

For a man who's going to die,

you don't seem overly concerned.

Well, let's just say I believe in happy endings.

Come on, let's get out of the heat.

Well, we're home free.

A few days, they'll be dead.

And when the police get there,

they'll blame the whole thing on Letty.

We have each other as an alibi.

And no one will ever know that we were here.

No one will ever know I was here.

What does that mean?

What are you doing, Ann?

What's a gun for?

You're dead, remember?

You're dead and I'm dead.

I'm not supposed to be here.

Well, I'm never here.

Everybody knows I'm never invited.

And everybody who saw me is dead now.

Or will be soon.

That wire.

Who sent you that wire?

I sent it myself.

Ann. Ann, don't.

I'm the last heir, Jeff.

Ann. Ann, please.

What's wrong?

I don't know.

Start it.

We're out of gas.

We're out of gas.

What do you mean, we're out of gas?

How can we be out of gas?

We had over a half a tank when we got here.

Oh.

I drained the gas tanks.

They shouldn't get more than three or four miles.

They'll be heading back soon.

You've got brains, too.

I like that in a man.

It's good to have a man around the house.

The delivery truck showed up on schedule with plenty of everything.

There was even a two-way radio for us to call the police on.

They had all the cars towed into a garage

and I was going to get a ride back to town with the delivery man.

Jeff and Ann were riding back with the sheriff.

I felt good.

Goodbye, desert.

I was on my way back to the beach.

Are you married?

Well, I was once.

To a young girl?

She was when I married her.

Have you got anything against mature women?

No.

A lot of rich widows in this world.

You might give that some thought next time.

Hey! Hey!

And now what am I going to do?

Well, don't worry. He'll be back in a week.

Well, what am I going to do in the meantime?

Where did I hear that you believed in happy endings?

Speaking of happy endings, Letty,

the night you brought me the sandwich,

how did you get downstairs without my seeing you?

THE END