07x09 - The Case of the Festive Felon

[bunniefuu]

(theme song playing)

Shouldn't we call
the doctor again, Mr. Grover?

He said he'd be here
in half an hour.

It's ten more minutes.

Less than a month ago,
I laughed at her

when she talked about wills
and gifts.

She was so alive, so well.

Where's the nurse--
Mrs. Randall?

The doctor phoned in an order
for medication.

Hetty went to the drugstore
to pick it up.

There must be something
we can do.

Stop fussing, Reed.

Bebe abhorred it in life,

and I'm sure
she'd resent it in death.

Oh, shut up, Eloise.

Be a happy stoic,
like your father.

Lawton looks like he's already
figuring out where

to spend the money first.

Hetty...

What is it, Mrs. Brent?

Hetty?

Where's Hetty?

She went
to the drugstore, darling.

She'll be right back.

Justin... in that drawer...

give me the envelope.

Here it is, Mrs. Brent.

All of you...

Eloise, Chester, Lawton, Reed,

I want you to be... witnesses...

(sighs)

Justin, the words.

What are the words
I asked you about?

For the gift?

You mean, "gift causa mortis"?

"Gift in anticipation of death.”

Irrevocable gift...

for my nurse, Hetty Randall.

Hetty's not here, Aunt Bebe.

You take it for her, Justin.

Agent for her.

Now, we went over it
and over it, Bebe.

I told you
this wasn't necessary.

Justin, please.

It's not like you
to disregard my advice.

For the first time
and the last...

humor me, Justin, please.

All right, you can give me
the envelope.

I accept this envelope
and its contents

for Mrs. Bebe Brent,
the donor of the gift

as agent for Mrs. Hetty Randall,
the donee of the gift.

Thank you, Justin.

Donor, donee, gift--

Will somebody
please explain to me

what all this mumbo jumbo is
all about?

I tried to tell her that

a simple codicil of the will
would be sufficient,

but she wouldn't have it.

With Hetty, she insisted it
had to be something special.

Well, I hope dear Bebe wasn't
too generous.

Well, that depends on your
meaning of generosity.

This is a certified check
to Mrs. Hetty Randall

in the sum of
one million dollars.

One mill...!

One million dollars!

You must be out
of your mind, Grover.

I-I thought she was talking
about a few thousand dollars.

This, I had no idea.

One million dollars?!

To just a nurse?

After more than years
in this house...

No, Dad, Hetty's always been
more than just a nurse.

Justin, darling, this, um, this
"causa mortis" gift stuff,

is-is that legal?

It is when the gift is actually
delivered and received.

But it's all right.

Well, I mean,
the check was never

actually delivered to Hetty.

It doesn't have to be.

Delivery can be legally
accomplished

through a third person,
as it was through me,

acting for the person
for whom the gift was intended.

It's all nonsense.

Completely out of the question.

When Bebe wakes up,

we'll simply talk her out of it,
that's all.

We'll just make her tear up
that check.

Then what would happen, Justin?

Well, then the bank would
release the money.

The million dollars would revert
to the estate to be...

...ultimately divided
between Chester and Lawton.

Or the three of you, perhaps?

(Bebe coughing)

(door opens)

Hetty, you...
you got back fast.

Well, I caught a cab outside
the drugstore.

I took it the few blocks
back here.

I wanted to get this medicine
to Mrs. Brent

as fast as I could.

I'm afraid it won't help.

Bebe's dead.

(sobbing)

(laughing, shouting playfully)

(laughing)

Here we are!
Come and get it!

(both laughing)

(Reed grunts)

Whew!

Ice-cold lemonade from a secret
formula handed down

through umpteen generations
of Brents

and now the sole and exclusive
property of one Lawton Brent.

Mmm! Delicious.

You check with the club, Dad?

No problem. We can have it
afternoon and evening both.

Wedding reception and dinner
for my son

and his lovely bride to be,
Miss Madeline Randolph.

Except by then,
she'll be Mrs. Reed Brent.

How does that sound?

Mm, not bad.

(both chuckle)

Lawton, seriously,
the wedding day,

do you think it's too soon
after Bebe's death?

Not at all.

I spoke to her,
as a matter of fact.

She was insistent.

She said that if she w...

if something happened to her,

she didn't want the two of you
postponing the wedding.

JUSTIN:
Anybody home?

- Hello, Justin.
- Good afternoon, Lawton.

- How are you Madeline, Reed?
- Mr. Grover.

Well, it's getting pretty close
to the day, isn't it?

The day or D-day?
(chuckles)

Same difference.

Did you bring the company
financial statement?

Right here.

Will you excuse us, young ones?

Uh, I have
to run along, anyway.

Would you drop me
at my mother's, Reed?

Will do.

Oh, by the way...

I received a rather annoying
phone call this morning

from a man who said he was
Hetty Randall's brother.

Max? He must be down
from Oregon again.

Yes, that was it, Max Randall.

If you'll excuse my saying so,

he was a little offensive on
the phone.

That doesn't sound like Max.

Apparently, he picked up a bit
of misinformation

about a so-called gift
from the estate.

A gift?

Now, these estate matters
are complicated, time-consuming

and pretty involved.

How does a gift concern
Uncle Max?

It doesn't.

The gift was for Hetty.

A gift for my mother?

About your uncle, it's nothing
personal, you understand.

I'll speak to Uncle Max,
Mr. Grover.

I'll speak to him
and to my mother.

Thank you.
That'll be fine.

Well, Lawton, you want
to look at the statement?

Yes, let's go in the study.

Yes, Bebe did promise me a gift.

A check, she said.

Maybe she just forgot
about it, Mom.

No, she didn't.

She told me she asked her doctor

to talk to some outside lawyer
for her.

The doctor did.

Told her exactly what the lawyer
said she had to do.

She did it herself.

She talked to a man
at the bank.

He took care of it for her.

Brought her papers to sign
and a certified check.

She told me so herself.

But I don't understand.

Did you tell
the Brent's attorney?

I called Justin Grover
this morning.

HETTY:
Oh, you had no right to.

Getting him all riled up
like that.

Oh, it wasn't that bad, Mom,
really.

Oh, bad enough.

I don't see my brother,
sometimes, for years on end.

Is he busy? No.

Just bumming around from
one lumber camp to another.

Finally he decides to see
whether I'm dead or alive.

What happens?

He had five minutes,
and he's poking his nose

where it doesn't belong.

I've got a right to see
you get what's yours.

Course you do, Uncle Max.

And I'm sure whatever it was

that Aunt Bebe wanted
mother to have,

Mr. Grover will see
that she gets it

without anyone pushing him.

See? Madeline talks good sense.

There's no need for anybody
to call, push, do anything.

Nobody, hear?

- Yeah.
- I've got some shopping to do.

Call you later, Mom,
from my apartment.

Al right.

Uncle Max, you'll be staying
for the wedding, won't you?

Oh, of course, don't be silly.

That's what
I came down for, kitten.

Let's get together for lunch
or dinner, okay?

I don't get to see
very much of you and...

well, you and mom are the only
family I have.

Not after you marry
into the Brents.

Oh!

You take care now, Madeline.

All right, Mom.

HETTY: And that last,
about the family.

Now why didn't you just come
right out and say

she shouldn't marry a Brent?

Maybe I should have.

They're a bunch of greedy
crooks, all of them.

That's not true.
Reed's a fine boy.

Is he? Wasn't he there in that
room when Bebe died?

And you mean to say that
he doesn't know happened--

everything that happened?

I suppose he told her, Madeline,
the girl he's going to marry?

Huh! I bet he told her
all about it.

Now you look here--
I know what I'm doing.

Oh, Max, I swear, outside of
knowing how to cut down a tree,

you haven't got the sense
you were born with.

Now you stay out of this!

Bebe trusted Mr. Grover.

He's a smart lawyer.

All right,
I'm no smart lawyer, maybe,

but who needs brains?

This kind of phony fast shuffle
I can smell.

Oh, Max, you're always...

Oh, Madeline left her glove.

Madeline, you...

What are you
talking about, Madeline?

Some sort of gift from
Aunt Bebe to my mother.

I can't make it
any plainer than that.

Bebe was dying, you know,
everybody was excited, upset,

waiting for the doctor.

Things could have
been said, I suppose.

I mean, things that nobody...

Well, at least... least not
so that everybody could hear.

Oh, Reed, stop double-talking
and make some sense!

Madeline, I'm only trying
to explain.

Well, you're doing
a miserable job of it.

Now just answer one simple
question-- yes or no.

Did Aunt Bebe do or say
anything about a gift,

a check intended for my mother?

Look, Madeline, I told you what
it was like in that room.

It's impossible to say
exactly what did happen.

Come on, let's talk
about the wedding.

- Reed...
-I told Dad that I'd... I'd like

-to have some of the old cr--
- Reed!

What is it?

There's something
you're not telling me.

Madeline, you've got
to understand that I can't.

I thought I knew you.

Knew what kind of a man
you were.

The kind of man
I wanted to marry.

I hope I wasn't wrong.

Madeline, please...

She knows about the check?

- Did you think she
wouldn't know? -Did you tell...

Did I lie to protect you?

Reed, boy, I need time. Time!

You know that.

But you told me yourself
there was a gift to my mother.

Do you also remember agreeing
to speak to your mother

and your uncle about the time
I need in this matter?

But I don't understand.

Is there or isn't there a gift?

Yes, yes, yes! I told you!

The papers are right here
in my briefcase.

Well then, why are you holding
on to them?

Why not just give the gift
to my mother?

Miss Randall,
I'll explain it again,

and please try to understand.

It's a question of time.

Time, Miss Randall.

- Now, if you'll just...
-(door opens)

Yes? What is it, Carla?

Uh, that Mr. what's-his-name--

you know, from the factory--

well, he said
he just has to see you.

Now, he says, and it can't wait.

And you're already
ten minutes late

for your appointment
with Judge Penner.

Oh, and your partner called,

and he said that he would
see you at the judge's,

so don't be late.

And, oh, and the man
from the factory

said that you
should call him right back.

Fine, Carla, fine.

Now, Miss Randall,

if you leave word
with Miss Eden,

my secretary,
where I can reach you,

I'll try to get in touch
with you in the next day or two.

Excuse me.

Oh, Carla, phone the judge
and tell him I'm on my way.

But what about the man
at the factory?

(door opens, closes)

Busy man, Mr. Grover.

Miss Eden...

from the time Mr. Grover
steps on a button

or pushes a signal
from behind his desk,

how long does it take you
to get in here?

Oh, half a minute, no more.

He doesn't like it
to take too long

when he has someone in the
office he wants to get rid --

You can tell your Mr. Grover not
to waste his time calling me.

I'll be seeing him
whether he likes it or not!

(door opens)

(door closes)

Upstairs, right up there,
in this house, Bebe died.

I was right there
in her bedroom,

and so was Eloise,
and so was Lawton,

and so was Reed.

And I don't care
what Grover said, he was wrong.

And let me tell you this, girl,
once and for all.

That despite your insulting
and fantastic suspicions,

there was no gift, no check,

and not one word said
about your mother.

You're not any better
than the lawyer or Reed,

all of you.

I know it; I feel it.

You're all lying.

- What?
- Chester...

Dear Madeline,

we have a cocktail party
and a dinner to go to,

and if we don't hurry, we're
going to be dreadfully late.

So, why don't you just be
a little darling

and run along
and let us finish dressing.

I'm not going to let you
get away with it.

Aunt Bebe's doctor spoke
to a lawyer for her.

I'm going to find out
who he is and see him!

Good! Good!

Maybe he can convince you

you don't know
what you're talking about.

And now,
if you'll excuse us please,

we're late.

(car horns honk, beep)

Mr. Mason, Aunt Bebe's doctor
told me he spoke to you,

and that Aunt Bebe did exactly
as you advised.

Now, what could be wrong?

Evidently, Mrs. Brent felt
that if she left the bequest

to your mother in the usual way,
through her will,

there might be some difficulty.

How?

Well, I imagine she felt
the remaining heirs

might possibly contest the will.

That just can't be, Mr. Mason.

We've lived in that house ever
since Mother was widowed,

for over years.

We've been like...
like part of the family.

Probate courts are filled

with families fighting
over inheritances.

What you're saying, then,
is that this gift

couldn't be contested like
a will could.

Well, if the gift was given
by Mrs. Brent

to Justin Grover's agent
for your mother,

it probably couldn't
be contested.

Only probably?

Della?

ALR: Second.

I have it marked, Perry.

The courts have said
that a non-testamentary gift

from patient to nurse
was invalid

on the grounds
of undue influence.

The courts state the fact
that the grantor

was lacking in mental vigor as
a reason to protect the grantor.

Bebe Brent wasn't
out of her mind, never.

Even though the mental weakness
was not such to justify

regarding the grantor
as totally incapacitated.

Mr. Mason, at this point,
I honestly don't know

whether you're encouraging me
or discouraging me.

I'm giving you the situation
as it is.

You said that
almost as if you intend

to take my mother's case.

Miss Randall,

did you for one moment
imagine I wouldn't?

We'll get on it in the morning.

First a call on the bank,

and then a call on attorney
Justin Grover.

Thank you, Mr. Mason.

Madeline, please,
listen to me for just a moment.

I know it sounds trite,
but whatever you have to say,

I suggest you say it
to Perry Mason, my attorney.

Madeline,
I will see your lawyer.

To tell him the truth.

I'm listening, Reed.

Apologizing
doesn't mean anything.

And I can't explain why.

I can't for the same reason
I thought I had to lie.

The-the same reason
why I'm not living at home.

Yes, you were right.

I heard it; I saw it.

Bebe said unmistakably
it was a gift to your mother.

"An irrevocable gift,” she said,

and she gave
the million dollar check

to Mr. Grover.

A million dollars?

Didn't you know?

It doesn't matter.

Madeline, I love you;
please believe that.

I love you,
and I want to marry you.

(scoffs)
A million dollars...?

(phone ringing)

Hello?

This is Justin Grover.

I'd like to speak
to Hetty Randall, please.

My mother isn't here,
Mr. Grover.

This is Madeline,
and I'd like to talk to you.

Reed Brent was just here,
and he told me that--

I don't care what Reed or
anybody in the family told you.

He told me about the check.

The million dollars.

Now, I want to know
why you kept that check.

Well, since your mother
isn't there,

and you're determined
to involve yourself in this,

I'll talk to you--

uh, in an hour, Miss Randall.

If you come here
to my house alone,

I'll tell you why.

(sirens wailing)

(coughing)

(sobs)

Inside, back there
in the house, there's a man.

Justin! Justin Grover!

No, lady...

there was a man.

BURGER: Miss Randall, Justin
Grover died in that fire--

a fire for which
you were responsible.

But I told you
what happened, Mr. Burger.

I ran into the kitchen, tripped,
and fell against the table.

Which struck the defective
heater and started the fire.

Yes, but I didn't know it
at the time.

When I fell,
I must have struck my head.

When I came to, the-the place
was filled with fire and smoke.

I know I started the fire,
Mr. Burger,

but it was an accident--

an unintentional accident.

Of course, you tried
to reach Justin Grover

to make sure he wasn't trapped
in that unintentional fire?

The flames were everywhere.

I couldn't get to him,
to anything!

Except the briefcase.

You got to that, didn't you?

My mother's check was...
- That's all, Miss Randall.

You've been
more than cooperative

with the district attorney.

Hamilton, if you don't mind,

I'd like to speak
with my client.

Be my guest.

Paul, Miss Randall.

I told you I would speak
with him in the morning.

Why did you go

to Justin Grover's house
that night?

I spoke to him on the phone.

He said that if I'd come over
in an hour,

he'd tell me
what I wanted to know.

You reached his house;
he didn't answer the bell.

The door was open,
so you just walked in.

- Yes.

What?

The front door was locked.

I closed it after I came in.

The back door was jimmied open.

Well, then the police
must think that I...

DRAKE:
Broke and entered.

Specifications one and two
on a charge of burglary,

and burglary, Miss Randall,
is a felony.

Mr. Mason?

We're here to help you,
Miss Randall,

but we must know exactly
what we're faced with.

Now, the front door was open.

You no sooner walked
into the house

when you heard a noise.

You went into the kitchen.

Tripped and fell
against the table.

And you saw a man
in the kitchen.

Yes, in the shadows,
in the rear of the kitchen.

His back was to me, but I
suppose it was Justin Grover.

Justin Grover's body was found

behind the desk
on the study floor.

Mr. Mason, I told you,

when I came to,
there was fire and smoke.

I was frightened!

I ran through the house,
looking for a way out.

I ran into the study--
or whatever it was--

and the briefcase was on
the desk, and I just grabbed it.

And didn't see Grover's body,
not ten feet away?

I told you,
the place was filled with smoke.

Mr. Mason, I didn't deliberately
set fire to the house.

Why am I here?

When the policeman stopped you
outside the house,

you had
Justin Grover's briefcase.

Of course, the papers were
in there, and my mother's check.

That briefcase was
Grover's personal property.

Taking it from the house

made you technically guilty
of burglary.

Are they gonna try me for that?

No, you'll be tried
under the felony m*rder rule.

m*rder?!

By definition, under the law,

committing a felony
is acting maliciously.

When that malicious,
felonious act

is the proximate cause
of the death of a human being,

even an accidental death...

The malice of the felony

becomes the malice aforethought
in the death,

and you end up with homicide.

MASON:
I'm afraid, Miss Randall,

you're not only gonna be charged
with m*rder,

but m*rder in the first degree.

You sign here and here

and here.

Just the legal forms for court,

to recover that check
when the authorities release it.

Hetty...

why would a, uh,

dying woman give
one million dollars to a nurse?

Why not?

We were good friends.

You're lying, Hetty.

You know, but you won't tell.

It doesn't make any difference.

It could make the difference
between life and death

for your daughter.

No, that's not true.

Hetty, are you afraid the truth
might hurt your daughter?

I, uh, I think
you'd better leave now.

Both of you.

Hetty, please listen to me.

You're a famous man, Mr. Mason.

The best lawyer there is.

You'll get her off, I know.

All right, Della.

Let's go.

All you private eyes
are the same.

Just like the movies.

All you have to do is smile,

and the girls are
supposed to swoon.

Well, stop with
the smile, shamus,

this one doesn't swoon.

I just thought you could tell me
what the police found out

about your boss and the Brents.

Look, mister,

I was private secretary to
Mr. Justin Grover, Esquire.

And "private,” gumshoe,
means just that-- private.

Well, c'est la guerre.

No, thanks, I don't smoke.

Say it again.

Say it again,
what you just said.

No, thanks, I don't smoke...?

I knew it, I knew it.

Carla Eden.

I thought I'd seen you before,

in Abe Schooler's
private projection room.

Best friend I've got, Abe.

He's head talent scout
for the network.

Sure, I should've remembered.

The three screen tests for
the running lead in the series.

You're one of
the girls Abe tested.

The... the network?

Eh, no, that's a dumb mistake.

- It wasn't you.
- Well, look, mister...

Poor Abe.

He thought he'd rounded up the
three best-looking gals in town.

But he hadn't seen you--
no, sirree.

But this friend Abe...

Abe what?

Schooler. Well, gotta run along.

Oh, no, please!

Uh... this Abe Schooler...

did you say he was
a talent scout?

Before you are notified
in the usual manner,

I think it best to
talk the situation over.

We might possibly avoid

unnecessary and
expensive litigation.

That's just lawyer language

to tell us that you're
gonna try to shoehorn us

out of a million dollars.

I thought you were
representing the girl,

-hot the nurse.
- Both.

(laughs)

Naturally.

m*rder defenses are
oh-so-expensive.

That was uncalled for, Eloise.

My, my.

The saintly one of the brothers.

With his noblesse oblige.

I take it you're prepared

to keep your pinky
properly elevated

while you turn over
your half million.

Not his, and not mine.

Hetty won't get one penny
of that money, I promise you.

That isn't so, Chester.

She will.

After my son and I...

after we both testify.

All right.

We know now where we stand.

There were four of us
in that room.

You and your son say,
"Yes, the check was delivered.”

We say, "No, it wasn't.”

(wry laugh)

Unfortunately for
the "no" Brents,

the score isn't two to two,

but three to two.

Well, what do you know?

I take it that the late
Justin Grover will testify

via Ouija board, huh?

(laughs)

Or will the court prefer
table-rapping and ectoplasm?

Neither.

Paul?

In his office diary,

Justin Grover ex*cuted
a full statement,

acknowledging that he had,
as agent for Hetty Randall,

received that check.

Bebe Brent was sick,

half out of her mind.

Bebe Brent's personal physician
is prepared to testify that

mentally, she was
completely competent.

But a million dollars
to a nurse?

That doesn't make sense.

ANDERSON:
Oh, yes, it does.

MASON: You all know
Lieutenant Anderson.

They sure do, Perry.

We've been seeing
a lot of each other.

About the gift to Hetty Randall?

Yes, the, uh, check.

Well, it wasn't actually
meant for the nurse.

From what we could tell,

Hetty Randall was
just a go-between.

The million dollars was
meant for somebody else.

Somebody else?

Madeline Randall?

I'm afraid that's right.

Madeline Randall.

You see, actually,

Madeline Randall is
Bebe Brent's daughter.

Bebe's husband,
my late brother Phillip,

went on a business trip
to Europe.

That was over years ago.

And that was the trip
on which Bebe's husband

was caught in an avalanche
while skiing,

and officially reported dead?

That's right.

It wasn't till about months
later that I got word

that a man was found
in a small hospital.

A man who might be my brother.

Bebe was away on a trip.

She had been for some time.

So I went to Europe
to investigate.

And was it your brother?

What was left of him.

He didn't even recognize me.

BURGER:
Really?

Did he recognize
anyone in the family?

CHESTER:
No.

Bebe, once I got him home.

BURGER:
Tell me, Mr. Brent,

how long did
your brother Phillip live

after you brought him home?

CHESTER:
Until a few months ago.

All those years of
slow death for Bebe.

Taking care of him just about
k*lled her, I guess.

Well, when Chester
called from Switzerland

that he had found Phil alive,

I immediately wired Bebe.

She was in Oregon
at the time, I believe.

You mean she was
living in Oregon?

I'm pretty sure it was Oregon.

You see, in the months
after Phil's death,

well, she was running so hard,

and so fast, that it
was simply impossible

to keep up with her!

Well, what do you mean,
"running,” Mrs. Brent?

Well, I...

I suppose she really
did love her husband,

and when the report of
his death came to her,

well, the... the poor girl
simply went to pieces.

I mean, she... she never was
very stable, you know, mentally.

Well, I mean, you take
the matter of that check...

Not right now,
Mrs. Brent, please.

- Oh. -That's a matter for
another jurisdiction.

- All right.
- Now would you tell this court

in what way,

during those months,

Bebe Brent "went to pieces"?

Well...

there was this cowboy--

or whatever the man
did for a living.

BURGER:
Cowboy?

ELOISE:
That must have been in Nevada.

So, of course, Chester
went to investigate.

Well, by the time he got there,

she had gone, and he never did
locate this cowboy creature.

- I see.
Mm-hmm.

Now, when you learned that
her husband was still alive,

-and you wired her in Oregon...
Mm-hmm.

...did she return at once?

ELOISE:
Well, actually, no.

You see, she wired back
that she was driving down,

but it was some time before
she arrived in Los Angeles.

We got a message.

Bebe had been injured

in an automobile accident

in a little town
north of San Francisco.

And she arrived
about a week later.

You see, it was
nothing serious.

I mean, she was just
sort of shaken up.

(chuckles)

Or so I thought at the time.

I have here
authenticated birth records

and hospital admittance records,

plus the sworn statements
of two doctors and a nurse.

All of whom have identified

photographs of you
and Bebe Brent,

and who are prepared to swear

that not you but Bebe Brent

was the mother of the defendant.

Do you wish, at this time,

to deny this?

No.

There wouldn't be
much sense to that.

I was Bebe's nurse.

Bebe was Madeline's mother.

There she was,

poor girl, hurt in
that auto smash-up.

Her baby coming sooner
than she expected.

Her own true legal husband,

whom she thought was dead,

was on his way home to her.

He-he was sick.

A man y-you couldn't talk to.

Explain things to.

She didn't know what to do.

I lied on the records.

Said I was married.

Listed the child as my own.

Bebe needed help with Mr. Brent,

and it gave her a chance
to see her own child

whenever she wanted to.

Bebe loved her.

Truly loved her.

We both did.

She had two mothers,
my little Madeline.

Then you knew all
about the check

Bebe planned to give you.

Not for me.

It was for Madeline.

Bebe had it planned.

She would give me
the check as a gift,

and I would set up
a trust fund for Madeline.

Mr. Brent, you've already been
declared a hostile witness,

and I warn you, I shall move to
have you cited for contempt

unless you are more responsive.

Now, when you saw Madeline
Randall early that evening,

was she aware that
that check was meant for her?

How should I know?

I'm not a mind-reader.

Mr. Brent!

Did she say or do anything

to indicate her knowledge
that it was her money

Justin Grover was withholding,
and not her mother's?

- REED: No, nothing.
- BURGER: You're sure of that?

Of course I'm sure!

She didn't even know
how much the check was for.

Huh.
But you told her, didn't you?

Yes, I told her.

Phil-- Bebe's husband--

founded the business,
and owned it.

Chester and I worked for him.

When Phil Brent finally returned
from his skiing accident,

did he continue to
run the business?

His condition
made that impossible.

Bebe ran the business

through Justin Grover,
the company attorney.

Nominally, I was president
of the company.

BURGER: And your resistance,
shall we say,

to Bebe Brent's
gift to her nurse

was because you thought that

might adversely affect
the company?

LAWTON:
Yes.

Bebe respected Phil's
love of the business,

his desire that it
remain with his brothers.

She didn't know, even then,
any more than I did,

that the company
was in urgent need

of all the capital
in Phil's estate.

And that urgent need
of the company

was why you all fought against
payment of the check.

The business was in delicate
condition financially.

I wanted to strengthen the
company's position financially

before the gift was publicized.

Did you ever hear the defendant
admit that she knew,

knew as a fact,

that Justin Grover
was withholding

a one-million-dollar check
that belonged to her?

She...

she said she knew
about the check,

how much it was for,
after she spoke to my son.

BURGER: And you spoke to her
after your son spoke to her,

isn't that correct?

So you then went to see her,

to explain, is that it?

And to apologize.

And beg her forgiveness.

And she told you then that
she knew the check was hers?

Mr. Burger, for what happened we
must all share responsibility.

You're not answering what
I asked you, Mr. Brent.

I said, did she say anything

to indicate that she knew
that check was hers?

She told me that she knew Bebe,
not Hetty, was her mother.

She was upset, Mr. Burger.

What else did she say
about the check?

She said she would get that
check back from Justin Grover,

even if...

I'm sorry, Madeline.

Desperately sorry.

She would get her own check
back from Justin Grover

even if she had to light
a fire under him to get it.

BURGER:
Thank you, sir.

Mr. Mason...

you haven't questioned
one of the witnesses

thus far in
the preliminary hearing.

Do you wish to
cross-examine this witness?

No questions, Your Honor.

DELLA: Not a word in
the courtroom all day,

and nothing since we've
been in the office.

Here's your coffee.

Perry, do you feel all right?

I'm fine.

Well, how'd you do?

That crystal ball
you have hidden somewhere

is batting a cool
thousand percent.

- There was a shortage.
- Yep.

The Brent brothers'
little business

came up grand short
in preliminary probate.

Embezzlement.

Get anything from Carla Eden?

Justin Grover's secretary's
a real cute one.

"Insurance shamus?" says she.

"A girl's got to
look out for number one.”

Well, she did.

Cost you the price of
a privately shot screen test.

Directed by one Abe Schooler,

whom I've never laid eyes on
before in my life.

I've known him for years.

He called, and I okayed it.

Well, what did you find out?

Well, I told her I'd heard
a whisper here and there,

and she might just as well
confirm it for me.

Finally, she did.

Justin Grover's been running
around with some woman

strictly on the Q.T.

Identity of said woman, unknown.

Perry, you knew there
would be a shortage.

Do you know who's
responsible for it?

Who the embezzler was?

Yes, Paul told me.

I did?

Did I also tell you who
Grover's girlfriend was?

Well, of course.

Would you mind telling me
what I told you,

so I'll know too?

Paul, as soon as you've
checked on some things for me,

you'll know who k*lled
Justin Grover, too.

But if Madeline Randall was
responsible for his death...

I- mean, she did
start the fire.

Did she?

CARLA:
Well, when that signal sounded,

I just grabbed up a pad and
went scooting into the office.

Let me tell you,

Mr. Grover didn't care
to be kept waiting

-when he sounded that signal.
- Miss Eden...

Well, only a couple
of days before that,

when he sounded that signal,

I was given a piece
of his mind...

- Miss Eden, please.
-...let me tell you.

Oh, did you say something?

Yes.

Yes, I did!

I asked you, Miss Eden,

whether the defendant,
Madeline Randall,

was aware that Justin Grover
had deliberately signaled you

to interrupt her
conversation with him?

Oh, sure, she was.

She pointed that out
to me herself.

And she was real mad too.

And what did she say
at that time?

"I'll be seeing him," she said,

"whether he likes it or not.”

BURGER:
Thank you.

All right, Mrs. Taylor,
you testified that

you lived next door to the
decedent Justin Grover.

And that on
the night in question,

you heard voices raised in
argument next door.

- Is that correct?
- That's right.

His voice-- Mr. Grover's,
poor man-- and another voice.

BURGER: Could you tell if this
other voice was a woman's voice?

TAYLOR:
Well, I couldn't say for sure.

It might have been,
it might not have been.

BURGER:
I see.

The defendant, in her statement
to the police,

claimed that
she entered the house,

and within a minute or less was
unconscious in the kitchen.

Would what you heard
bear that out?

I'm afraid not, sir.

They'd been at it for
minutes, the two of them.

I phoned the police and the
police didn't get there

for another ten minutes.

When my partner and I arrived,

the place was starting
to burn real bad.

He went around to the front
and I took the back.

And what happened?

I saw her, the defendant,

running out the back door; she
was heading for the back gate.

I stopped her, she was
carrying that briefcase,

and I took it from her.

It was a severe laceration and
contusions on the head,

caused by a blow
from some blunt object.

But the immediate cause of
Justin Grover's death

was carbon monoxide inhalation.

BURGER:
Brought on by what, Doctor?

DOCTOR:
Smoke.

Legally, the approximate cause
of Justin Grover's death

was that fire.

Your Honor, whether the
defendant is charged

with a m*rder committed during
the perpetration of a burglary,

the only criminal intent the
prosecution has to show,

is the specific intent
to burglarize the victim.

The State is not required
to prove a deliberate,

premeditated k*lling or even
to prove the intent to k*ll.

Burglary of an inhabited
dwelling place in the nighttime

is a felony.

In this case, we had entry
without consent,

we had a clear intent
to burglarize,

and we had possession
of stolen property.

Therefore, Your Honor,

under Penal Code Section ,
concerning homicide

perpetrated during the
commission of a burglary,

I move,
under the felony m*rder rule,

that the defendant
Madeline Randall

be bound over to
Superior Court on a charge of

m*rder in the First Degree.

Mr. Mason...

before ruling on the motion,

may I ask if you plan to present
a defense at this hearing?

I do, Your Honor.

JUDGE:
Please proceed.

May I call the attention of
the court to the fact that,

under the felony m*rder rule,

the doing of the act
does not establish

the existence of the intent.

And the prosecution must present
independent evidence

of the intent to steal.

May I further respectfully
point out to the court,

that motive and intent
are not synonymous.

The court will take note of
your comments, Mr. Mason.

Defense calls,
as its first witness,

Max Randall.

When Madeline met Reed,

she found out
there'd been a check

and the amount of that check.

She went into the house,
answered Grover's call,

went home to her own apartment,

met Lawton Brent.

At that time, she not only
knew about the check,

but she knew that she was
Bebe Brent's daughter.

And she found that out
from you, Mr. Randall.

Did she not?

Well, yes, I thought
she should know.

Not out of any concern for your
own possible enrichment,

but purely out of concern
for your sister

and for Madeline Randall.

That's right.

You were fond of the girl?

Yes, fond.

Fond enough,
when Madeline went home,

to go yourself to
Justin Grover's house?

Yes, I went there.

Went in through the back gate,
jimmied opened the back door

and went into the kitchen.

Yes.

Why, Mr. Randall?

Well, when Madeline
left me, I...

I got to thinking--
I knew that check was certified,

that it was good,
that the bank would honor it.

...well, I...

I decided to
get it for the girl.

MASON:
What happened Mr. Randall?

MAX:
Well, nothing I, uh,

I never got beyond the kitchen.

Uh, the place was dark,

I heard the front doorbell
ring, somebody coming in.

I turned to leave

and I bumped into
a table or something

and knocked it into
the middle of the room.

It was Madeline,
just entering the house,

who heard you
in the kitchen and came in.

Came in, tripped, hit her head

and fell unconscious
to the floor.

I was panicky., ...

I just ran;
I got out and ran.

I didn't know it was
Madeline laying on the floor.

I didn't know
she was going there.

Max...

all those years,

why was Madeline's identity
kept secret?

MAX: Madeline, a pretty helpless
little thing.

Hetty didn't want her
to know her real mother

had no legal right to marry
while her husband was alive,

even though she didn't
know he was.

And that Madeline was...

was therefore illegitimate.

And Bebe thought her husband had
been k*lled, she remarried.

Oh, it was kind of
a wild, crazy sort of thing.

You know, a woman
brokenhearted because

the man she loved, really loved,
had just been k*lled.

She was at... well,
at the end of her rope.

One night she, well, she wasn't
drunk or anything like that,

but she was really down,
sick inside.

Anyway, she and, well,
this other guy, they,

they ran off and got married.

And Bebe heard that her first
husband was still alive.

Max...

when you told Madeline that
Bebe Brent was her mother...

did you tell her
that you were her father?

Did you, Max?

No.

No, I didn't.

You were there in that house
before either Max or Madeline.

Yes, I was there...
considerably earlier.

To tell Justin Grover
that you knew

who had embezzled $ ,
from the company.

Yes.

When Bebe became seriously ill,

I had the company books checked.

I discovered the shortage then.

And suspected
your brother Chester?

Yes.

MASON: That's why you pleaded
with your son for time--

to find out the truth,
to help Chester make restitution

to keep your
brother out of jail.

LAWTON: Chester was greedy
but not that greedy.

He was not the embezzler.

Then you discovered the truth,

that the embezzler was
Justin Grover himself.

You went to his house...

confronted him.

What did he say?

He insisted that from the moment
Bebe made the gift of the check,

he'd been desperately trying
to return to the company

the money that he had...
had taken.

Had he returned the money?

Some of it.

I left because he was
expecting a visitor.

Someone who was involved
in the embezzlement with him.

Someone who might return
the rest of the money.

This visitor...

did Justin Grover tell you
his visitor was a woman...

a woman he'd been
seeing for years...

secretly?

No, no, it isn't true.

Well, sure, I saw him
every now and then,

but it wasn't me!

It couldn't have been me.

Oh, Chester,
you gotta believe me.

I didn't!

I swear I didn't!

Why don't you just shut up?

(gavel banging)

Well, maybe I did know,

but that was no reason
for my blabbing so much

to that detective of yours.

Justin Grover had been
seeing Eloise Brent.

CARLA: Well, I certainly
don't blame him,

the way she was...
(anxious laugh)

Well, you know what I mean.

The way she was always
throwing herself at him.

Justin Grover
and Eloise Brent,

breaking not one,
but two commandments.

He coveted another man's wife,
and together they robbed

the Brent Company of over
a quarter of a million dollars.

Oh, no, it was only
a hundred and fifty thou...

Oh, well, uh,

as I told your detective,

they, uh,
they were just very close

and, and that's all I know.

Of course.

By the way, the screen test
Mr. Drake arranged for you

with Abe Schooler--

did it come out all right?

Oh, uh...

Oh, yeah, sure.

Great.

MASON: As great
as your first screen test?

M-My first?

Abe Schooler
has an amazing memory,

not for names, but for faces.

He remembered yours
from a screen test you took

three years ago,
at a major studio.

Well, I...

I, I don't understand.

Don't you remember the contract
you were offered?

The contract that was to start
at $ a week?

Five...

Then suddenly,
you didn't take that contract.

Instead,
you went to work for Grover,

at $ a week.

Why, Carla?

(anxious laugh)

Y-You don't know what
you're talking about.

The shamus, Mr. Paul Drake,

the detective you thought
you'd stalled

and lied to and made fun of,

he did some checking, Carla.

He found the little suburban
bank where you keep

your safe deposit box.

Now,

will you tell us
what's in that box, Carla?

Or must we get a court order
from the judge?

Oh, that fool.

That stupid fool.

"Ethics,” he said.

All of a sudden legal ethics
were keeping him awake nights.

His conscience
was bothering him.

I worked with him
for three years

bilking the company
of that money.

Three years!

I had over $ ,
in that box.

He insisted you return it?

Yes.

He was going to call the police
to turn us both in.

I tried to stop him.

We struggled.

I picked something up
from the desk,

and I hit him.

You were there,
hidden in the house,

when Max came in,
when Madeline struck her head

and fell unconscious.

Now, tell me, Carla,

Max was gone,

Justin and the girl
were unconscious.

That defective heater by itself

wasn't enough to start the fire.

You helped start that fire,
didn't you?

Well, all I could think of was
how to stop him from talking.

And the heater was leaking gas.

Burning.

So I grabbed
the window curtains,

and I tossed them
near the heater.

That fire really started
to burn then.

I went back to the study
and Justin was lying there.

I left him there

and I went outside,
and I drove away in my car.

Well, I couldn't
give him back that money.

It was mine.

Mine.

I had to have it!

What are you gonna use the money
for now, Carla?

Here you are, Perry.

Just what you ordered.

Here, Max, this is for you.

California codes.

It's marked--
read Section .

You said something
on the stand about Madeline,

a misconception a lot
of people have.

"The issue of a marriage
which is void,

"or annulled, or dissolved
by divorce...

is legitimate."”

There you are-- Madeline Randall
has always been legitimate.

Madeline Brent, if you please.

And don't tell me there's
anything wrong with that.

Hey, how about that?

That's right, Dad.
How about that?

(theme song playing)