03x09 - The Hero Syndrome

[bunniefuu]

I just hit him with that crowbar,
that's all. It was self-defense.

It was m*rder. You ripped
him open with a baling hook.

I didn't. No? It's
laid out on my table.

I want $18,000.

Otherwise, your
blood will be there.

My job is to find the truth.

And as far as I'm concerned it
doesn't end here, it starts here.

What's the matter?
You change your mind?

No, I k*lled Hennafy.

No, I mean about
coming upstairs.

There's a m*rder*r out there.

I'm not gonna let him get
away and neither are you.

I k*lled Hennafy!

Gentlemen, you
are about to enter

the most fascinating
sphere of police work,

the world of forensic medicine.

Ace, king. Three, four, five.

Hello, Ben. Hi, Pete.

Kid. All right. Four threes.

Five sixes.

What you got?

Here, stick it in your ear.

Stick it in your ear. Are
you carrying anything?

I only got a few bucks, Ben.

All right, come on. You
can help. Here you go.

Hey, Ben!

You're gonna get it back.

You have some pigeon.

Ben. I said I'll give it
back to you now, didn't I?

Stella, give the man a drink
on me, would you, please?

Thanks, honey.

Three fives.

Hi. Hello, Pete.

Your hair's different.
Just washed it.

Say, I get off tonight at 11:00.

Can I pick you up? We can
go for a drive or something.

Maybe.

You got something
planned for later?

I don't know yet.

It's Wednesday, Rocco.

Yeah, and it always rains.

Forty-three bucks.

I always thought
vampires had pointed teeth.

Just a little joke.
Just a little joke.

Make me laugh on
Friday, will you, Benny?

Okay, buddy.

Hey, Thorwald. Yeah?

Save me a trip.
Sixty-five bucks.

It's not due till tomorrow.

I won't be here
tomorrow. I don't have it.

Well, that's too bad.

That's $32.50 on top of
two payments next week.

No. You can't do that.

You know the charges
when you're late.

Yeah, but I'm not late.
I'll pay you tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm
gonna be out of town.

That's your
problem. I won't pay.

You'll pay.

I swear I'll k*ll
that guy someday.

Yeah, sure, Pete, just do it before
I have to pay him again, will you?

I'll see you
tonight, eh, Stella?

Yeah, sure.

I said I didn't know.

Come on, Pete,
let's get to work.

In a minute.

You should have known.

It wasn't right, Ben.
I couldn't take that.

I know, but you took
it, anyway, didn't you?

Come on now, let's
get to work. It's late.

Here's five bucks.

I'll give you a little bit more
when we get out of here.

Do you see what I see, Doctor?

Yes, I see what you see,
Doctor. I just don't believe it.

Well, you better believe
it. You're a success.

And you've got the beginning of an
ulcer to prove it. Oh, it's a little one.

I've learned that the little
ones grow into big ones.

By the way, here's your diet
for the next three or four months.

You're printing it now, Paul?
You're going into wholesale practice?

Can I help it if so many
people are successful?

Talk about bland food.

If this doesn't poison
me, it'll bore me to death.

Stay on it or you'll pay some
cutter's malpractice premium.

Now...

Antacids.

And one of these every four
hours. It'll slow your engine down.

Oh, come on, Paul.

Quincy, I'm
telling you. Cool it.

Stop operating 24
hours a day at full throttle,

or you'll be looking up at the new
coroner doing an autopsy on you.

Yeah. I know you're right.

I am. I been promising
myself I'm gonna take it easy.

From now on, I'm gonna be quiet.

I'm going to be a cool, calm
and collected cat, I promise you.

Like you promised
to take off 10 pounds

the last time you were in here?

Will you lay off of me? I don't
have a 9:00 to 3:00 job like you.

Twenty hours a night
sometimes I work, huh?

They bring in a sandwich, it
lays on my stomach like a rock!

What happened to
cool, calm, collected cat?

What did I do with the antacids?

Oh, that Rocco
was born too late.

He'd have been perfect
running a sl*ve galley.

I hear he wants to
buy his own drum.

You know the main reason I
want us to get us our own boat?

What's that?

So we can get those slobs at
the deck to do the work for us.

Yeah, meanwhile, the
landlady likes us to work.

The finance company
likes us to work.

And Hennafy.

I should have never
turned you on to that pig.

I needed the money, Ben.

Yeah, but you're better
off robbing a bank.

That's Hennafy.

Guess he missed a few
collections this afternoon.

Come on. Let's get out of here.

I paid him today. You don't
have to pay him till tomorrow.

I don't want to see him anyway.

Hey, Thorwald.

Come on. Now, don't mess around.

I know you're out here.

Come on, Thorwald, come here.

Hey, there you are.

Where you running to, kid?

No place.

All right, where's the money?

I told you, I'll pay
you tomorrow.

Now is tomorrow. It's after
midnight. So where is it?

I don't get paid till
noon. I'll pay you then.

Don't get smart with me, kid!

Now where is it?

I told you I don't have it.

There are penalties for that.

You stinking little punk,
I'm gonna k*ll you here.

Pete, what's wrong with you?

And our department
is way over budget.

In fact, we'll run
out of our allocation

long before the end
of this fiscal year.

We have got to find
a way to fight inflation.

Now, do you have
any suggestions?

Yeah. Tell people to stop dying.

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

Now, the point is,
Quincy, we, all of us,

all of us have to be more
efficient, especially your section.

Now, I want you to look objectively
at all your supply requisitions.

Now look at these. Certainly
you could be more economical.

All right, I'll stop belting down
the formaldehyde, all right?

And the linen. Look
at the linen you use.

You know, per cost per hundred,
you even use more than my wife.

Sometimes I think
you're running a hotel.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll take home the laundry and
do it. Does that make you happy?

All right! This is
my department.

And I am ordering you to
cut cost effective immediately.

That is my department and I am
not running a bargain basement!

Now, if you want good
work, you have to expect...

Of course you're right,
Dr. Astin. I'm gonna get right on it.

I'm gonna cut the costs right down to
the bone, the marrow of the bone, sir.

What are you up to, Quincy?

Okay, fellas, you got
my post mortem for me?

What?

On Jake Hennafy. I
brought him in here last night.

Oh, yes. We haven't
started that yet.

What do you mean you haven't
started it yet? What happened?

Is the St. Valentine's Day
m*ssacre ahead of me?

Not yet, Lieutenant.

I don't believe this. I got
an open-and-shut case,

a suspect in my hand,
and... Don't start yelling now.

And I can lay it out to the DA
in his lap, just as nice and clean,

and you guys are
gumming up the works!

No, don't yell at me.

Why would I yell at you?

You're right.

And I'm sorry. I apologize to
you, I apologize to both of you.

I'm gonna get on it right
away, if you'll excuse me.

What...

He seemed all right when
he came in this morning.

And when he came at me, I...

I grabbed the crowbar and...

And...

I didn't hit him that hard.

I know I didn't.

What else could you do? He'd
have kicked your brains out.

Yeah, maybe. I don't know.

Hey, man, just be cool,
huh? Relax. Be cool.

And do what?

I think if we go to the cops,
everything is gonna be okay.

Okay?

Ben, they'll accuse
me of m*rder!

Oh, man. It ain't m*rder
when you step on a cockroach.

All you did was take
out a piece of garbage.

That's got nothing
to do with it.

Listen, man. You
stood up to him.

You did something nobody else
around here had the guts to do.

Ben, I didn't k*ll him!

All right, man,
whatever you say.

But you just threw a


and the people in the
stands, they are cheering you.

Take my advice and listen
to them. Listen to them good.

Come on, you and me are
going to the cops. Let's go.

You gotta set the speed
record on this one, Sam.

I promised Monahan.

Looks simple enough.

Yeah, they all do at the
beginning, don't they?

Yeah, there is a contusion
of the left frontal parietal area,

and a linear laceration
of the scalp measuring...

Measure that, will you, Sam?

Twenty-two and
a half millimeter.

I don't think
there's any fracture

but do some x-rays
anyways. Check it out, okay?

Right.

There is a moderate
hematoma beneath the contusion.

Was that the cause of death?

Maybe. Maybe not. Wow, Sam.

Now that is a
massive hemorrhage.

Give me a hand here, will you?

There are irregular
jagged lacerations

extending from above the
area of the sacroiliac joint

to the level of the
first lumbar vertebra.

Hey, let me have the
ruler, will you, Sam?

Thank you.

Oh, seven and a half
centimeters in length.

Undoubtedly caused
by a sharp instrument.

A Kn*fe wouldn't cause
that kind of damage.

No, but a baling hook would.

They found one at
the scene of the crime.

Did the police lab send it over?

Not yet. They're
still doing their thing.

Boy, it really ripped
him open, Sam.

Caused a massive hemorrhage.

With that hemorrhage he
wouldn't have lasted five minutes.

Was that the cause of
death then? Probably.

- Yeah.
- Quincy.

This is Monahan.
You finished yet?

Just about, Oh, that's great.

Listen, the timing is perfect.

We're getting a statement
from the suspect now.

Okay. I'll wrap it up as soon
as you send the hook over.

The hook?

Yeah, I have to match the
blood on the hook to Hennafy's.

Oh, yeah. Look, you don't
have to worry about that.

He k*lled Hennafy
with a crowbar.

I wouldn't bet on that.

You come on down here
and I'll prove it to you.

Okay.

Were there any witnesses?

I don't think so. Or they
might've stopped him.

He was working me over pretty
good before I hit him with the crowbar.

So I had to hit
him in self-defense.

Satisfied now?

Self-defense my eye.

He's lying.

It was m*rder. It was
cold-blooded m*rder.

I'm telling you, Monahan, it
doesn't jibe with what we found.

Hennafy got it
with a baling hook!

That's great. We found Thorwald's
prints all over the hook, too.

So we got him both ways.
What's the difference?

The difference is between
manslaughter and m*rder one.

Now, wait a minute. That's
the DA's problem, not mine.

Ready to take Thorwald
downstairs, Lieutenant. Oh, good.

Wait a minute, will you,
Brill? Can I talk to him?

Be my guest. Bring
him in, will you?

I'm Dr. Quincy. I'm with the
Coroner's office. Yes, sir?

Sit down, son.

I've been looking
over your statement.

You said that you k*lled
Hennafy with a crowbar.

A blow to the
head, self-defense.

That's right.

See, I found a wound on the
body in the back, right here.

It was caused by a baling
hook. How do you explain that?

I can't.

I don't know anything
about a baling hook.

Well, it's yours.

He knocked it out of my hand.

I didn't see that
in the statement.

I didn't think it was important.

It was important
enough to k*ll him.

I just hit him with that crowbar,
that's all. It was self-defense.

It was m*rder. You ripped
him open with a baling hook.

I didn't!

No? It's laid out on my
table! A deliberate m*rder!

I swear, I just hit him!
That's all. I hit him!

Brill, take him downstairs.

He was coming at me! I
couldn't do anything else!

I never hooked him!

You didn't have to make
a federal case out of it.

I wanted to see if he was
gonna stick to his story.

Okay. When do I get my report?

After I double check
the head wound.

Send over the crowbar, will you?

Look, it's in the drink.
They're diving for it now.

What do you need
that for if you're so sure

that the baling hook's
the m*rder w*apon?

I do my job. Why
don't you do your job?

Do I ever bother
you with questions?

No, it's all...
What's the matter?

Nothing's the matter. Nothing.

Well, I don't know, you've been
acting very funny lately. What...

What's that you just
put in your mouth?

Smile pills.

If you can't get him out now,
find out when. How soon.

I want to be the
first to see him.

Yes, I understand.

Uh-huh. Yes.

And the report's all typed up ready for
his signature. As soon as he gets back...

Oh, here he is. Yes, sir.

I'll remind him.

Astin.

He wanted me to tell you, "Accuracy
plus speed equals efficiency."

I get the message.

Here's the report on Hennafy.
It just needs your signature.

Thanks.

Hey, Quince,

they're waiting for that report.

As soon as I get the crowbar.

It had to be the hook
that k*lled him, Quince.

Yeah, Sam. But why did
the kid only hit him once?

If he was mad enough to
k*ll him, why did he stop?

Why didn't he keep pounding
him with the crowbar?

Why did he go for
the baling hook?

Quince, your job is to
find the cause of death...

Sam, my job is
to find the truth.

And as far as I'm concerned it
doesn't end here, it starts here.

I want a whole
number on Hennafy.

I want tissue slides, blood
fluid analysis, the works.

Yeah, but what do I tell Astin?

I don't give
advice, just orders.

Timing was perfect. He
was just being arraigned.

Bail?

No big deal.

You know me, Mr. Thorwald?

I guess you're the
guy he told me about.

You put up my bail. Thanks.

My name is Antrim.

My company holds your loan.

Jake Hennafy worked for me.

Oh.

A manslaughter rap.
He pleaded self-defense.

Then you did k*ll
Jake. I had to hit him.

I'm only interested
in the money.

Money? Yes.

My money. He was
carrying a lot of it.

And it wasn't found on his body.

I didn't know anything
about any money.

You were the last to see him.

Maybe I was... Why don't
you get in? We'll talk about it.

I don't know
anything about... Oh.

Get in the car.

Thorwald!

You won't get away with
this, kid. I want my money.

Boyd, let's get out of here.

Well, how does it
feel being sprung?

Okay.

You know who bailed
you out, don't you?

Yeah. He did. Antrim.

Hennafy was one
of his boys. Yeah.

You know, I think you might've
been a lot better off staying in there.

Your life's really
on the line now.

Brill. Hi, Doc.

Anything new? Nothing new.

They're still fishing
for that crowbar.

What was over there?

That's where they
found that hook.

Thanks, Brill.

Hey, what are you doing?

Taking some blood samples.

Gonna match
them to the victim's.

Also looking for
foreign substances.

You're a cop, huh?

Coroner's office.

There's a lot to
scrape up there.

That Pete really laid into him.

You like it, huh?
Babe, I love it.

You're a friend of Thorwald?
One of my best pals.

How'd he get in
with a loan shark?

We're all in the bag.

Yeah. But he must've
been in pretty deep.

Yeah, he's been paying
off for more than a year now.

And I figure he's still more
than a thou in the hole.

Horses, cards? What?

Nah, he's straight.

Has he got a girl?

He likes to think so.

Stella. She tends bar
down at the Afterdeck.

But she just wipes
his chin and burps him.

I never figured that
he'd take out Hennafy.

Pete's a good kid.

Hey, Doc, I think he's
coming up with something.

Found it.

I only heard about it
a couple of hours ago

and you could've
knocked me over.

Pete k*lling Jake Hennafy?

I still can't believe it.

He said it was self-defense.

Even so, I can't believe it.

Not of Pete.

Sounds like you
know him real well.

We've dated a couple of times.

Oh, nothing heavy.
He's no mover.

Mostly we just talk.

Poor guy, he just doesn't
know how to come on.

Don't guys like that usually
go for expensive presents

and fancy dinners,
things like that?

Pete? Yeah.

A taco and a beer and
a drive out to the beach,

and nothing happens there
except him talking about

how someday he and Ben
are going to own their own boat.

Who's Ben? His best friend.

His only friend, actually.

They're always talking
about that dream boat.

But meanwhile, both of them are in
hock up to their ears with Hennafy.

I don't understand. I always thought that
longshoremen made a pretty good buck.

Say, you're pretty nosy.
You're a reporter or something?

No, no, no.

A cop then? 'Cause I don't want
to get him in any more trouble.

No, I'm telling
you, I'm not a cop.

No, you couldn't be. You
ain't even touched your beer.

That's because
it's not on my diet.

How about a pickled
hard-boiled egg?

No thanks.

Quince? Yeah.

You better take a look at this.

I was double checking.

The vena cava was ripped.

Then he's definitely
bled to death.

Which means that the
crowbar had nothing to do with it.

What is that kid trying to pull?

And we all thought
Pete was the quiet one.

A little mouse maybe.

But ask Hennafy what
kind of mouse he is

if you've got a
pipeline to hell, huh?

You said you did
it in self-defense?

But I think we all know
a little bit better, right?

Looking for me? Got a minute?

That a friend of yours?
Get him a chair. Sit down.

Oh, I don't have the time.

How's your diet?

It's fine. Thank you.

It's a nice party.

Yeah.

Nobody's given me a
party since I was a kid.

You want to talk to me?

Yeah. But first I want
to get something straight.

I'm not a cop. I'm a doctor.

I'm paid by the county to
dig out medical evidence

that leads to truth in all
kinds of criminal cases.

Okay.

Okay.

What I'm digging out of
Hennafy are problems.

Probably I'll have
to eat my own words.

You said you hit him with
a crowbar. Self-defense.

And you said I nailed
him with my baling hook.

m*rder. Right.

I've been thinking back on
that. Trying to remember it.

It all happened so fast, it kind
of got mixed up in my head.

So?

So, I've got it straight now.

You were right, I
did give him the hook.

When?

When he was coming at me.

It didn't stop him, so I
grabbed the crowbar.

First it was the hook
and then the crowbar?

Right. That's another lie.

Hey, wait a minute...
No, you wait a minute.

That hook ripped
out his vena cava.

But if he was coming at you, he would've
bled to death before he ever reached you!

Okay, so I guess he did. I told you it
happened so fast, I can't remember.

So, he fell down, you
hit him with the crowbar?

Yeah, if that's
how you say it was.

Oh, no, don't lay it on
me. How do you say it was?

At first I said it was self-defense
and you said, no, it was m*rder.

Okay, I'll take your
word for it now.

But now you're switching and
saying it was something else.

I don't know what you want.

All I want is the truth.

The truth is I want to get
back to my friends. Excuse me.

Quincy, I mean, you've got to be
kidding. You're really gonna eat that?

What's the matter? Plain
chicken on plain white bread.

It's the safest thing
you serve here.

Great advertisement. Next time
eat it in the phone booth, okay?

Sorry, I took so long, Quincy.

I had to send somebody
across the street to get it.

It's all right, honey.
You know, Quincy.

You keep working
as hard as you do,

I'm gonna have the chef store some pablum
and strained apple sauce just for you.

Hey, Danny. The usual.

Another gourmet. The usual.

I thought I'd find you here.

What's that you're eating?

Lasagna.

What do you want?

Oh, I thought you'd like to know that
the DA's willing to go easy on Thorwald.

Now he has settled
for a manslaughter rap,

which means the kid'll pull
maybe five years, get out in two.

How very generous. Especially
since maybe the kid didn't do it.

Wait a minute now, Quincy. You
said this morning it was m*rder.

Yeah, but now it's tonight.

More and more that confession's
beginning to sound like a fairy tale.

Oh, and the tooth
fairy got Hennafy, huh?

Somebody did.
I'll give you that.

Thanks.

Why don't you just stop
playing the prosecutor?

Go back to being a
detective. Find out who did it.

I know who.

Here you are, Lieutenant.
Hot pastrami, nice and lean.

Thank you. Lieutenant.

Mmm. Delicious.

It was a real swell party.

Still is.

It's real sweet of you to keep
me company while I clean up.

I'm not keeping you company.

I'm waiting to take you home.

I just live upstairs.

I know.

Hey, you have
changed, you know it?

For the better I hope.

Yeah, you're turning
into a real tiger.

Never knew I had it in me.

Well, you sure did hide it good.

Well...

Let's go upstairs right now.

You can clean up in the morning.

Or I'll even help you.

Seeing as how I'll be in
the immediate neighborhood.

You talked me into it.

And after you can tell
me how it all happened.

Hey, how what happened?

You and Hennafy.
How it really happened.

It just happened.

Don't be modest. There's
got to be more to it than that.

Listen...

What's the matter?
You change your mind?

No, I k*lled Hennafy.

No, I mean about
coming upstairs.

You still want to, don't you?

Sure. Well...

Hello, Antrim.

Take a walk, Stager.

Come on, move.

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Where's my money?

Honest, Mr. Antrim, I
don't know where it is.

I don't want to hurt you, kid.

Because that doesn't
get me my $18,000 back.

But I will tell you this.

Well, in exactly 24
hours from this minute,

I want $18,000.

Right there.

Otherwise, your
blood will be there.

What'd he say?

Hennafy had money
on him when I hit him.

Antrim thinks I took it.

Did he say how much it was?

Eighteen thousand.

I didn't take it, Ben.

Where am I gonna
get that kind of money?

You see, Thorwald's father
d*ed a couple of years ago.

He was sick for a long time and what
with the doctor and the hospital bills

being the way they
are, the kid was in hock.

Those weekly payments to the
loan sharks are keeping him there.

Not since he k*lled Hennafy.

Well, he has to pay somebody,
probably Hennafy's boss.

That's right. Antrim. But I
think he's got the money to do it.

How'd he get it? He had a tip.

Hennafy had over 18,000
bucks in cash when he bought it.

But it disappeared.

So you think the kid
k*lled him for the money?

They say that's
the root of all evil.

So you're here to
pick Thorwald up.

Yeah, well I have to ask
him a few questions first.

Hey, wait a minute,
there's a friend of his.

Hey, pal, can I talk
to you a minute?

About what? Peter Thorwald.

What about Peter Thorwald?
Have you seen him?

Not today. Well, he
works here, doesn't he?

Not today. I gotta
get back to work.

Not today, not today.

I bet Antrim doesn't like
making his own collections.

Is that Antrim?

You know he can't walk a
step without those candy sticks

and he's the most feared
man on the waterfront.

What happened to him? Polio?

Polio? You fought your way to the
top in the rackets the way he does,

you got to expect a
couple of broken kneecaps.

Is it all in there?
That's the whole batch.

Thanks. Okay.

How's it going?
Almost finished, Quince.

The scrapings you took at
the pier show two blood types.

Two? 0 matches up with Hennafy,

A positive, Thorwald.

Well, we know they were there.

Did you examine
all the scrapings?

Except for these. I can't get
anything. They're contaminated.

How?

I don't know. Something
got into them. Salt, I think.

Here, take a look.

The salt got into the
blood while it was still wet.

Here's where I got the salt
scrapings from Hennafy's blood.

Look at this. Look
at this one. See?

Somebody had salt
trapped in their heels,

they stepped on the blood,
they made a patch. You see that?

Yeah. And salt is something
you can always find on the docks.

Leaky sacks, anything.

That's right. But who?

I'll tell you something, Sam.

I don't know who it is.
But I know who it isn't.

I told you. One lie
on top of the other!

No!

I k*lled him! I admitted it!

And you can't prove I didn't.

I thought I'd seen everything but
you're something else, you know that?

Screaming at me to prove
that you're not innocent.

I know why and it's weird.

Never mind! Just
get out of here!

So you can throw your life away

just to become some kind of a
twisted hero for a couple of minutes?

It's crazy!

Okay, so I'm crazy!

Who's been feeding
you this garbage?

What kind of sick
values do they have?

Do you know what
it's like in prison?

I don't care.

It's not worth it. You'll just
be a picture on the front page

that will be forgotten
with the first edition.

Oh, sure, you feel good now.

Everybody telling
you you're somebody.

Not a nobody, hanging
around the edges.

I know you feel
like a very big man.

That's right! I'm a big man!

For the first time in my life!

But it's not going to work!

There's a m*rder*r out there.

I'm not gonna let him get
away and neither are you.

So you want me to back off now?

Live a worse hell than before?

Have them all laugh at me?

It's that or two years in jail.

I'll take it. It's worth it!

And I don't care what
you know! Or what you do!

I'll stand there and
scream my head off

until somebody listens to me!

I did it! I k*lled Hennafy!

I may not have the
experience that I think I have

or else your mind works in
such wondrous, mysterious ways,

no ordinary human
being can follow...

You're telling me that the
district attorney's office called.

He certainly did.

And Thorwald's
attorney and Monahan.

I'll bet you didn't
need a phone with him.

Quincy, I feel it.
This is a mistake.

Now, how could you do this?

I simply convinced
the district attorney

to give me a hearing
on Thorwald's guilty plea.

Now, wait a minute.
Can you do that?

Of course I can do that.

I warned him that if he didn't give
me a chance to express my findings,

it would look like he was suppressing
evidence. He could lose the whole case.

Quincy, I'm telling you, you don't
have the time to prepare a case like this.

It'll only take a few hours this
afternoon to lay it out for the judge.

You'll embarrass us.

It takes an experienced lawyer to defend
someone who doesn't want to be defended.

Believe me, I know
what I'm doing.

Haven't you noticed I don't
yell anymore? I'm always smiling.

That's what really worries me.

Oh, good grief.

Dr. Quincy.

I'm Howard Tyler,
representing Mr. Thorwald.

Glad you're here.

Well, I haven't had much
chance to study the case

but it seems to me
that this writ of yours

could make things
worse for my client.

How?

I just want to show that his confession
isn't true. That he didn't k*ll Hennafy.

Fine, fine,

but the district attorney is
being very generous now,

and I think I can get a light
sentence on a manslaughter plea.

You see, but if you're wrong,

then you could be opening a whole can
of peas and subject him to m*rder one.

I never thought of it that way.

But I'm not wrong. I'm
going to do your job.

I'm going to prove that
your client is innocent.

I'd mind my own
business if I were you, Doc.

And you say you're his friend?

I'm his very best friend, Doc.

Get one thing straight, Doc. We're
gonna take good care of our boy.

Your boy?

Oh, he's your boy now?

A couple of days ago you wouldn't
have given him the right time.

Now he's your buddy.

You've all latched on to
him like fleas onto a dog.

That's a lot of bull!

And why? Because
he's a k*ller, right?

sh**t somebody, Kn*fe
them, b*at them to a pulp.

You're an instant big man.
The new American hero!

You ought to write a book.
k*lling for Fun and Profit.

It's a guaranteed bestseller.

There are millions like these
out there, just waiting to lap it up.

Don't let him throw you, Pete.

See you in court, Counselor.

Nice of you to
make it, Mr. Antrim.

Why the subpoena?

Figured maybe I could use
you as a character witness.

Quincy.

Mr. District Attorney.
Long time no see.

Not nearly long enough.

Good morning. Good
morning. Good morning.

What are you doing here?

Praying that you can justify
what you're doing here.

Counting Sam, that
makes three of us.

Quincy, for starters. Would
you mind straightening your tie?

We want to have the court
on our side. Oh, good grief.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, what?

I need a dummy.

A what?

A clothing dummy,
I need it right away.

I thought your case
was fully prepared.

It is. I know Thorwald didn't
k*ll him and I know who did.

I just want to strengthen
my case. Please, Sam.

I'll do the best I
can. Make it snappy.

Okay.

Remain seated.

She looks like a
hanging judge to me.

Do me a favor, will you? Keep your jitters
to yourself. I've got enough of my own.

You said it.

Now, we will hear evidence
concerning Mr. Thorwald's guilty plea.

For reasons of his own, the
district attorney is going along with

Dr. Quincy's request to
set aside that guilty plea.

Your Honor, I really don't know
what Dr. Quincy has in mind,

but I'm going along out
of curiosity, if nothing else.

Well, due to the irregularity
of this proceeding,

we'll dispense with the
usual court formalities.

But I will insist that all
questions and all discussions

be limited to this specific
issue and this issue alone.

Now, is that clear
to all the parties?

- Absolutely.
- Yes, Your Honor.

All right, Mr. Frazier.

Your Honor, consistent with the
irregularities in the proceedings,

may I defer to Dr. Quincy?

Dr. Quincy, you have the ball.

Thank you, Your Honor.

I'll try to belt it
out of the park.

Well, you better
do something with it.

In his sworn
statement, Mr. Thorwald

maintains that he k*lled
Jake Hennafy with a crowbar.

However, exhaustive medical examinations
and tests on the skull of the victim

show that the wound produced only
soft tissue injury and was not fatal.

It was probably a glancing blow.

Your Honor, I'm willing to accept
the medical examiner's findings

without all the technicalities.

Thank you.

I'm only laying the groundwork
to sustain the motion, Your Honor.

Go on, Dr. Quincy.

Thank you.

But you will swing at a
pitch soon, won't you?

I'll certainly try.

The second wound in the body
was caused by a baling hook.

We found the vena
cava was severed.

Objection.

There is no mention of a baling
hook in Mr. Thorwald's testimony.

But that's what k*lled Hennafy.

You're out of order, Dr. Quincy.

No, no, I'm not.
I'm just trying...

You're just out
of order, Doctor.

I will sustain the objection.

I knew this was a mistake.

Go on, Dr. Quincy.

How can I go on?

If I can't continue this line of
evidence, I may not have a case.

That's entirely possible, sir.

What did I tell you, Quincy?

Don't blame me.
They're burying me here.

Will you proceed, Doctor?

Well, I'm certainly
gonna give it a try.

Knowing that the only
thing you can relate to

is the defendant's statement
of guilt. You understand?

I understand it now and I want to
thank you for explaining it to me.

See, I usually deal
on a coroner's inquest.

And there we can ask anything we like
as long as we're looking for the truth.

Inferring that we're
not doing that here?

Oh, no, not that. It's just that
your procedures are very different.

And, well, I'm not an
expert on judicial procedures.

Obviously. Or you
would have realized

that the only fool worse than a
lawyer trying to defend himself

is a fool who's defending someone
who doesn't want to be defended.

Didn't I tell you that?
Words out of my mouth.

Now, shall we go back to
your motion, Dr. Quincy?

Yes. Well...

I'm stuck now, I'm really stuck.

Punt.

Punt?

Your Honor, is it possible that we
could have a seventh inning stretch?

Dr. Quincy, we've just begun.

Well, I have been thrown a lot of
curves and I need some time to readjust.

Court will recess
for 10 minutes.

Ten minutes? What can
you do in 10 short minutes?

Pray that Sam gets
here with a dummy.

Now, on your motion, Dr. Quincy.

May I ask Peter
Thorwald a few questions?

Mr. Thorwald.

Your Honor. Howard Tyler.

I represent Mr. Thorwald.

Yes, Mr. Tyler? Another
Clarence Darrow.

I realize these
proceedings are informal.

However I cannot allow my client to answer
any questions that might be prejudicial.

Nor can I, sir.

There will be no oath. You
may be seated, Mr. Thorwald.

Mr. Thorwald,

you made a statement to the
police in which you admitted

hitting the victim over the head
with this crowbar. This w*apon.

Yes. And when I
talked to you later

you claimed you
also hit him with this.

Objection!

Your Honor, we're not here
to test the defendant's memory.

We will confine ourselves
to the statement, Dr. Quincy.

Yes.

This baling hook
admittedly belongs to you.

Now, did you use it on...

Objection!

I told you before, Dr. Quincy,

there is no mention of a
baling hook in the statement.

But this baling hook
is the m*rder w*apon.

Objection!

Sustained.

The blood on this
hook was Hennafy's.

Now, how could it... Your Honor!

I know. Objection! Sustained!

I knew justice was
supposed to be blind,

but I didn't know it was
supposed to be deaf as well.

You watch yourself, Doctor.

Let me tell you
something, Your Honor.

There's a lot more justice
in a coroner's inquest

than there is in
this court of law.

One more outburst and I'll hold
you in contempt in this court of law.

Well, then I guess I'm finished.

I think so. Mr. Thorwald,
you're dismissed.

One question, Your Honor.

Your statement. You
made it of your own free will?

No reservations?

None.

Your Honor, I move for a
dismissal of Dr. Quincy's petition

on the grounds of
insufficient evidence.

I got plenty of evidence if
you guys would let me show it.

There must be some
explanation to this, Dr. Quincy.

Oh, there is.

If I can ask Mr. Thorwald
to illustrate his confession,

show us exactly how
he k*lled Hennafy.

Objection.

Your Honor, my client has
been asked to describe the k*lling

over and over again.

Objection sustained.

May I ask someone else, please?

All right, Dr. Quincy.

Thank you. All right, Sam,
put it up to Hennafy's height.

Now, you're the same height as
Thorwald. I want you to come after it.

Reach as far as you can now.

Your Honor, may I
submit as evidence

this photograph of the
wound that k*lled Hennafy.

You'll notice that
it starts far enough

down the back to have
severed the vena cava.

That's in this area here.

That's at least 12 inches away from the
furthest point that Thorwald could reach.

Now I'd like to try with someone
slightly taller. Say... Hey, Ben.

Would you do this for me?

No.

Why not? Afraid you'll dirty your
hands? Use your work gloves.

I don't have my gloves with me.

Where are they?

I don't know, I think I lost...
I did lose them somewhere.

You're in luck.

'Cause I found them just
where you had lost them.

The bottom of the harbor.

Near where Hennafy was k*lled.

Got your name on it.

Also has Hennafy's blood on it.

Yeah, that doesn't
prove that I...

Weren't you unloading
salt that night?

Yeah, so what?

We found salt ground
into Hennafy's spilt blood.

But a bunch of other guys
were unloading salt that night.

But they weren't anywhere near
the scene of the crime, were they?

Do you know what you're saying
to me? Well, I don't need that, man!

I know what I'm saying. I'm saying your
best friend hit Hennafy with a crowbar,

he thought he'd k*lled him,
he panicked and he ran.

Then you got there. You went through
his pockets, you took out a lot of money.

Hennafy went for you and
you let him have the hook!

And for what reason did I do it?

Eighteen thousand
reasons, buddy, $18,000.

Ben?

Did you do this to me?

Did you take the money?

Were you gonna let them k*ll me?

Man, I'd have done
anything for your approval.

I'd have gone
to jail for your...

Yeah, you little
turkey, I did it!

I did it 'cause you wouldn't
have the guts to do it!

And I'd do it again
for a dollar, for $10,

or for 18,000 of those suckers!

Bailiff, will you hold that man
for further questioning, please?

Like I said,

you're no m*rder*r.

Thanks to you.

Quincy, I have to say
it again. I have to say it.

The department is
really proud of you,

the way you got that boy
to approve his innocence.

Thank you. A regular
Perry Mason in reverse.

Hey, the way Sam
came after that dummy

I thought he was
going to yell, ”Banzai!”

Food! Oh!

Some vermicelli with
meat sauce for the doctor.

Fettuccini, clam
sauce, bell peppers.

And for Mr. Usual.

Yeah! There you go.

And then you. Chici,
chici, chici, chici.

Clam's good, huh,
Sam? Nice with the...

Yeah.

Oh, does that look delicious?

Give me that sandwich!