07x27 - The Case of the Careless Kidnapper

[bunniefuu]

(theme song playing)

David Pelham is
a scientific phenomenon,

real boss.

Blink your eyes and the square
becomes a circle.

Blink your eyes?

Who's even seen him
in six weeks?

Hey, Dave, I used to think you
had no mama, no papa.

Sure, he had no home.

See, he lived in a tree.

GIRL :
And never, never gave a party.

GIRL : And never, never invited
anyone to his house.

First night back in town
with mother, and pow,

a blast, a party,
in his own pad, yet.

GIRL : We're for-real gonna
meet your mother and your father

at the same time?

Nothing else but.

You are en route to my house
at this very minute

to meet my perhaps conservative

but nevertheless
sterling parents.

I reject all parents.

Is there anything
you don't reject, Michael?

Ah, here we go.

All right, you apes,
no ape stuff.

Now remember, my father's
not only a medical doctor,

he is also a professor,
so you might wind up

-in one of his classes.
-(laughter)

In one of his special classes?

Hey wait a second.

What does that crack mean?

Forget it, man.

Two other professors.

MAN:
Shut up for a minute, will you?

WOMAN:
Don't you tell me to shut up.

I hoped, oh, how I had hoped
that things would be different.

But are they? No. No!

Susan, for the love of...

Will you, for once in your life,

try to be rational?

Rational? How dare you.

Look, I'm not omniscient.

That's right,
Gregg the professor.

D-D-Don't answer me,
just lecture at me.

Susan, I only tried to tell you

that you I did not know
you were coming home today.

I could not clear my schedule

based on facts I did not know
and could not anticipate.

Did not know
and could not care less.

That is not true, Susan!

Don't you call me a liar.

Battlesville, man.

-I hate you!
- Susan, no!

Susan!

It's like I said, parents.

(accordion music playing)

Hey, Mike, no,
I don't want any more.

I'm stoned already.

No, no, solace, man.

Something I was...

We got to figure out something
for you to do.

No, Joe, not with them.

- Forget it, honey.
- Please, Joe.

Greetings, Michael.

Hello, Joe.

Look, drift, old buddy.

We've got a small jug
and a big problem.

I mean it, Michael.

I'm never going home again.

They think having kids

automatically
makes them somebody.

Never again,

never again.

I-I'll tell my mother
where I am,

but I won't tell him.

Mothers.

What they need is anguish.

A brown paper bag full
of anguish.

My father?

Him?

(laughs)

He wouldn't care.

He has no right
to get away with it.

No right.

Get away with what?

Anguish, man.

They need it.

DAVID:
Yeah, I guess so.

I got like an idea, David.

You come on with me,

and we'll crank up
this giant anguish machine.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Wait a minute,

This-this is...

"Dr. Pelham,

"your son has been kidnapped.

"If you want to see him alive,

"come all by yourself

"to the abandoned freighter

"by the old pier.

Come all by yourself..."

♪♪

Is anybody here?

MICHAEL:
Yeah, someone's here.

(gasps)

Who are you?

Where's my son?

I don't want to talk to you.

David's father's
the one needs talking to.

Oh, shut up and bring him here
to me now,

do you hear me?

I told you that
I'm the man with the message.

First, you get the message

and then your husband
gets the message.

Then, if I think
the anguish is enough,

I'll talk to David.

Where is he?
You better tell me right now.

Oh, you're a real tiger.

That's why David
isn't coming home.

What are you talking about?

Of course, he's coming home!

He doesn't want to come home.

Because his home
is where the arena is,

with wall-to-wall battles.

I want my son.
You give me my son!

Cool it, lady.

Hey! Hey!

(screaming, thud)

Gregg, if there's anything
I can do to help...

No, it's just another chapter

in the same old story.

(chuckles)

You know, I'm a physician
as well as a teacher.

I prescribe for other people,

I tell them what's wrong,
I tell them what to do.

Why can't I tell myself?

I just don't know.

Susan?

She and the boy came home today.

I wasn't expecting them.

It was almost the wrong time.

There was something
I had to explain to her.

I started talking.

(scoffs)
Then, the same old pattern.

I love her.

I love her very much,
but when we start,

- don't know.
-(car phone buzzes)

John Lathrop.

Yes?

Yes, he's here with me now.

Oh, all right.

Yes, I'll tell him.

That was the switchboard
at the university.

They've been trying
to track you down.

Some-some sort
of urgent message.

You're to call operator .

Here, you can use this,
if you like.

No, I'll take it
inside the house.

- Operator .
- Right.

Good night, John.
Thanks for the lift.

Good night, Gregg.

Susan?

David?

Susan?

(phone rings)

Dr. Pelham.

Gregg? Perry Mason.

I've been trying to reach you.

What's this about a kidnapping?

A kidnapping?

Well, I just got home, Perry.

What are you talking about?

A message
from my answering service.

Susan called;
she was hysterical.

Something about David
being kidnapped.

Oh, dear God.

I don't know whether she called
the police or not,

so you'd better do it and fast.

Be sure to tell them
kidnapping is involved,

then you stand by, Gregg.

I'm in the Valley so it'll take
me a some time to get there.

Look, Perry,

now, Susan and I just had
a terrible, angry fight.

Now, maybe this is
her idea of-of revenge.

I can't believe that David
has actually been kidnapped.

No matter what you believe,
call the police.

I'll be there
as soon as possible.

Susan!

Susan, what happened?
Where's David?

Oh, Gregg, I've k*lled a man.

Look, get your breath.

Where's David?

What happened to him?
Tell me.

They've kidnapped him.

That-that old freighter
at the pier...

On the pier, the man's dead.

Susan, start at the beginning.

The doorbell rang,

and there was this note
under the door.

It said...

I know, I read the note.

What happened at the pier?

The man, he said...

The man said
David wasn't coming home.

That-that he had a message
for you.

Then I-I k*lled him,

and he's lying beside
that freighter.

Did he say where David was?

Just that he was all right,
but that he wasn't coming home.

Then I-I-I hit him
with my handbag

and he fell,

and he's dead.

(sobbing)

Susan, did anyone see you
at any time?

No. There was no one there
but him.

All right, now listen.

Go inside the house quickly.

Now, you've been home
all evening.

You didn't go down to the pier
at all, do you understand?

Even to Perry Mason,

you have not left
the house this evening.

But, Gregg...

He fell.

It was an accident;
you said he did.

What about David?

I'll find David.

Come on, get inside now.

Perry Mason's on the way over.

I'll find David.

(splashes)

Did the man say anything
about a ransom?

No.

Just wall-to-wall battles.

Did you bring my handbag?

He must've been
some kind of a nut.

Your handbag?

I let it go.

It fell.

It was lying there beside him.

Susan.

If they find that and him...

They'll stop looking for David!

They'll...

(car pulls up)

Susan, listen to me.

This is all you know,
this is all you tell anybody:

You went down to that ship.

A man jumped out of the dark,
grabbed your handbag and ran.

You didn't see him.
It was dark.

He just grabbed
your bag and ran!

-(doorbell chimes)
- Please, Susan,

don't you understand?

You didn't k*ll him! He fell!

So you must not get
mixed up in this.

-(doorbell chimes)
- Susan, please, please.

Just say what I told you.

(doorbell chimes again)

Any news?

Nothing, Perry.

Not since the note.

Note?

There.
I wasn't here when this came.

Susan went down to
the pier by herself.

When she was on the deck
of an old freighter,

a man jumped out of the dark,

and grabbed her handbag and ran.

Since then, nothing.

I mean, no, no word, no calls.
Just nothing.

What have you heard
from the police?

Well, I haven't...

things happened so fast, I...

You still haven't
called the police?

Better get your coat, Susan.

(indistinct radio chatter)

Perry, we've got
roadblocks set up,

the F.B.l.'s been notified,

and the department's pulled in
a squad of off-duty men

to fan out and comb
the entire area here.

Good, Andy.

I'm sure Dr. and Mrs. Pelham

appreciate everything
you people are doing.

I know how difficult
this must be for both of you.

Ordinarily, I'd tell you
to go home and wait there,

but... well, somebody else
called us and...

we've, um... we've found a body.

No. Oh, no!

ANDERSON: No, no, no.
It's not your son.

Clothes, description...

the diver is sure
it's not David.

Now, as to the person who
left the note at your house...

did either of you manage
to get a glimpse of him?

MASON:
Doctor Pelham wasn't at home

when the note was delivered.

Mrs. Pelham came here alone.

She came here? When?

At : .

She was aboard the freighter
when some hoodlum

snatched her purse and ran.

They've got it, Lieutenant.

All right, Sergeant.

Perhaps it's the man who
snatched your handbag and ran.

Would you mind seeing if
you could identify the body?

I-I couldn't identify anyone.

I didn't see him.

He just jumped out of the dark.

I never saw him.

Try to remember, Susan.

Clothes, anything.

BRICE: His name's
Joe Velvet, Lieutenant.

Come on, now,
have a little coffee.

Mm.

- Nice.
- Another sip.

That's enough.

Ugh.

What'd you do,
find me lying in the street?

You were passed out on the dock.

On the dock?

Oh, boy, how'd I get there?

Since you were the one
who was drunk,

suppose you tell me.

Didn't ...

see you someplace
earlier tonight?

No.

We've never met.

My name is Sande Lukins.

Oh, yes.

You're my father's secretary.

You haven't answered me.

Why I was drunk?

Why you were there,
at the pier.

Oh, the pier...

Let's see... Mike...

Michael... took me some place,
to, uh...

a boat... I...

Oh, I don't know,
I can't remember.

Try!

Try to remember!
It's important!

What were you doing there?

Hey, now, now wait a second.
What is all this?

I had a couple of drinks
and all of a sudden

I wind up in your apartment

with you asking me questions
like a broken record.

I don't know how I got on the
pier... how did you get there?

I don't even know
how I got here.

-(doorbell chimes)
- That's John Lanthrop.

He's a friend of your father's.

I'm sorry, John.

I just didn't know
who else to call.

I'm not much good
at handling drunks, Sande.

Not even when
they're my friends.

Well, he's not drunk now.

But I'm afraid he's
in some sort of trouble.

One of your boyfriends,
in trouble?

It's not a boyfriend.

It's David Pelham!

David Pelham!

Sande, they're combing
the city for that kid.

It's all over the radio, TV,
even the late papers...

David Pelham's supposed
to be kidnapped!

Kidnapped!

ANDERSON: All right, son,
I'll let you get to bed

in just a minute.

Only a few more questions.

Now, tell me, did you, or this
boy Michael, drive to the pier?

I think Michael drove.

Oh, I don't know.

The way I feel right now,

I don't see how
I could have driven.

I gather you and this
Michael were friends.

Tell me, what's his full name
and where does he live?

Well, he's... he's got his own
apartment, down by the beach.

And he owns his own car,
he's got a lot of money.

ANDERSON:
And his full name?

DAVID:
Michael Da Vinci.

ANDERSON:
Is it possible

his name was not
Michael Da Vinci...

that it was... Joe Velvet?

Lieutenant!

I... it's-it's obvious that
there's no kidnapping here,

it's some kind of
a childish mix-up.

David's home safe and sound,

and it is late.

Why don't we just
call it a night

and forget the whole business?

I wish we could, Doctor,
but the police department

doesn't have the citizen's right

of just forgetting something
it doesn't like.

Well, all right, then...

the "citizens" of
my family are tired.

It's past midnight.

Would it be asking too much

that you do whatever
you have to do

about this kidnapping tomorrow?

All right...

we'll call it a night and pick
up the pieces in the morning.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Well, uh, I've done my good deed
for the day

so I'll go along
with the lieutenant.

I'm glad everything
turned out all right.

I'll see you
in the morning, Gregg.

Good night, John.
Thanks for everything.

Right.

Mom, Dad, I...

David, you were
standing outside the window

with your friends earlier,
weren't you?

Well, I think instead of owing
an explanation, you're due one.

Get some sleep.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

Mom.

You're all right, son, that's
the only thing that matters.

- Good night, Dad.
- Good night.

Good night, Mr. Mason.

Good night, David.

Well...

would someone care to tell
the truth for a change?

Oh, thank heaven, yes.

Perry, the boy that I hit, I...

- Susan.
- But, Gregg...

Susan, go to bed.

Yes, by all means, go to bed.

Say nothing to me.

If you did, I might be able
to help you.

And we wouldn't want that,
would we?

Perry, you knew David's story

long before the police did.
In fact,

you had one of your detectives
out checking up on him...

way ahead of the police.

So don't start accusing us
of holding out on you.

Susan...

you were involved
in something more serious

than purse snatching,
weren't you?

Perry, Susan is going to bed.

She's not gonna talk to you,
nor anyone else any more...

neither am ll.

Al right.

But mull this over if you have
trouble going to sleep:

one can be sympathetic
toward a mother

taking action against a man who
has kidnapped her son

and might be
threatening his life,

even if the action she takes
is labeled manslaughter.

Good night.

Gregg, why didn't you let me
talk to him?

I will, I will...

at the right time.

Find anything yet, Paul?

Perry, you woke Della,

so she could wake me, so I could
wake half-a-dozen other people.

I tell you, that is no way
to win friends

and influence people.

Michael Da Vinci...
what did you find out?

In the first place, his
real name is Michael Manning.

As in Mary, remember?

Mary Manning?
The motion picture star?

Former star.
Oh, she's still up there,

and still pretty big time,
but she's kind of on the skids.

- Michael's her son?
- Only child.

Though by which one
of the five husbands

she's had and discarded,
I don't know,

and couldn't find out
on so short a time.

I'm not even sure
momma knows herself.

Or cares, perhaps.
What about the boy?

Number one trouble-maker.
And you're quite right,

- Nobody ever has ever cared.
- Police record?

Mm-hmm.

Then Andy
will soon be on this, too.

Paul, I'd like to find Michael
before the police do,

if possible.

You want me to wake
number seven, Mary Manning?

Think she'll be
the lucky number?

I hope so.

All right, where do I
get in touch with you?

Call Della. I'll phone,
and let her know where I'll be.

On your way.

I said he was not home.

DRAKE:
I heard you, Miss Manning,

the three times
you just said it.

I only asked
when you saw him last?

Days, weeks, months...

I don't know,
I care less.

Are you sure
you haven't seen him,

or heard from him tonight?

I don't know
what kind of trouble

the monster's in...
for a change.

But whatever it is...

this is the last place
he'd come,

and I'm the last person
in the world he'd come to.

But you must know where...

Look...

Why don't you be a nice man

and get out of here.

Miss Manning...

Out!

Well, if you do hear from him,

that is, before the police
pick him up in a dragnet...

- What?
- Call Perry Mason, the attorney.

He's in the phone book.

He's asleep, Miss Manning...

in that spare room
over the garage.

Nobody will find him there.

And the doctor's on his way.

He was hurt...

hurt and in trouble...

but he came home...

home to me.

(sobs)

- Leave it open!
- (gasps)

Dr. Pelham,
you scared me to death!

I heard something
that worried me,

and I just came
to check and see

if your records were safe.

What was this thing that you
heard that worried you so much

you got up in the middle of the
night and came over here?

Who'd you hear it from,
Joe Velvet?

You know him?

Not as well as you do, Sande.

But he's been threatening me

and blackmailing me
with information

that you must have given him!

That isn't true!

Certain things of mine were not
in this safe last night

when I checked, but right now,
somehow, just before dawn,

they're back in place.

You could have opened this safe,
taken the material out,

given it to this Joe Velvet
to copy,

and right now put it back!

Oh, Perry, I- don't understand.

You don't? Well, I do.

The key word appears
to be "blackmail.”

You, you heard.

Yes, some but I figured out
the rest.

Well, what-what
you don't know...

What I know or don't know
doesn't concern me.

What is it that
you and your wife know?

Susan? No, Mason,
li-listen to me!

- I've been...
- Listen to what,

more stories
about "purse snatching?"

Do I have to fight to help you?

- Perry... -What did I say at
your house, manslaughter?

The police use a different kind
of arithmetic.

They add a body and blackmail,
and the answer comes up...

...m*rder!

That was what you were going
to say, wasn't it, Mr. Mason?

Lieutenant, that-that man's
death was an accident!

Susan didn't... I swear to you,
she couldn't know

about Joe. Velvet!
She couldn't! I swear to you!

ANDERSON:
I agree with you. She couldn't.

Then you're not going
to arrest Susan?

We never planned to, Dr. Pelham.

The warrant we have
is for your arrest.

Sure, you can call it
a kidnapping.

Well, you took David Pelham
down to the freighter,

you wrote the note,

you delivered it
to the Pelham house.

MICHAEL: And hightailed it back
to the freighter.

Now, did the defendant,
Dr. Pelham, come down

to the freighter as you had
demanded in your note?

No, his wife came.

I see. What happened
when she arrived?

Well, we got to arguing,
and she hit me with her purse.

And it went sailing off the ship
onto the pier.

And what happened to you?

Well, I followed it,
headfirst onto the pier.

Then I, I passed out.

Now, do you remember what
happened when you came to again?

Yeah, Joe Velvet was there.
He was madder than a wet hen.

Kept yelling at me, why was
I trying to q*eer his pitch.

Well, when Joe gets mad,
you don't double park.

So, I got David and my stuff and
got out of there in a hurry.

Did you understand what he meant
by "queering his pitch"?

Blackmailing Doc Pelham.

Blackmailing him for what?

Do you know,
of your own knowledge?

That was the first I ever heard
of it, right then

when he was yelling at me.
saying I'd keep him from getting

this big bundle of money
from the doc.

Yes, but did you know the basis
for this blackmail?

I-I guess it was the doc
and some woman, I think.

Why did you think that?

Well, I know I saw him once
meeting somebody

in a motel in Santa Barbara.

Who was the woman you saw Dr.
Pelham meeting in Santa Barbara?

Why do you have to ask me
all these questions?

I answered everything
in your office.

Michael, you have
to tell it to the court.

Now just once more,
who was that woman?

Mary Manning.

Mary Manning,
the motion picture actress?

Are you sure you recognized her?

That's easy, she's my mother.

And how did Joe Velvet
know about this?

I, I told him once.

Thank you, Michael.
That will be all.

Mr. Mason.

Michael, why did you want Joe
Velvet to blackmail Dr. Pelham?

I never wanted him to blackmail
the Doc, never.

And your mother?

Look, I just got through
saying it!

I never knew anything
about that blackmail,

not until that night.

Michael...

do you hate your mother?

Hate?

No, we're good friends.

Two or three times a year we
even say hello to each other.

That is, when she isn't getting
married or divorced.

Why did you tell Joe Velvet
about your mother?

Joe? Well, he was asking
about his wife.

Maybe I said some things
about my mother.

Joe says, "Why not buy 'em a bag
full of anguish?"

You said something
about Joe's wife.

She used to be Joe's wife.
They're divorced.

Joe just asked me about her.

Why you?

Well, he knew that I was running
around with David.

David Pelham?

Now look, Joe's former wife--

she's the doc's secretary--
Sande Lukins.

I saw a letter.

Where Dr. Pelham had laid it
on the desk.

And I caught a glimpse
of the name:

Joe Velvet.

Then the Doctor came back.

I knew what kind
of a no-good bum Joe was.

I learned that the hard way.

So you looked up your former
husband again.

Yes. To find out why he was
writing to Dr. Pelham.

Did you find out why?

Only enough to realize

that he had gotten some money
from Dr. Pelham

and was expecting to get a lot
more from the doctor.

It frightened me; what the
doctor would think

if he'd known
I'd been married to Joe.

What could he think
that would frighten you?

Beside the doctor,

I was the only one who knew the
combination to the office safe,

where he kept all his
confidential records and...

In other words, you were afraid
that Dr. Pelham would think

that you were the source
of the blackmail information.

That night that the Doctor saw
me at the safe,

I wasn't taking anything out or
putting anything back in.

I was just checking.

But earlier that night
you did see

your former husband, didn't you?

Well, yes!

He said he was worried about
that kid Michael

and the Doctor's son.

You mean, you went with him

when he followed those two boys
down to the freighter?

Yes. We went in my car.
I stayed in the car.

Michael was trying to carry
David away from the freighter.

He saw me and panicked, I guess.

Anyway, he dropped David
and ran.

Then Joe told me
to get the kid home...

and he walked away from me...

and was gone.

And did you take the boy home?

I sobered him up first.

And then I called a friend of
Dr. Pelham's to take him home.

It was quite a load off
all our minds

seeing that boy safely at home
with his parents.

Of course. Now, Mr. Lanthrop,

you work with the defendant
Dr. Pelham

at the University, do you?

No, not at all, other than that
were both on

the University faculty.

You see, he's an MD
and a professor of medicine.

I teach biochemistry.

We'd been sharing a lab,
that's all.

He has his own examining room
there

but we have to share
laboratories.

But you say you were with him
at the lab

on the night of the m*rder.

That's right.
He came in for an hour or so,

and then I drove him home.

Did Dr. Pelham seem
his normal self?

Well, if you were to ask me
about chemical reactions,

I could give you
an expert opinion.

But I'm sorry, I'm no judge
of behavioristic normalcy.

Well, did he say anything,
anything at all

to indicate verbally that he was
not his normal self?

Well, he, uh, he seemed
disturbed

about a disagreement
he'd had with his wife.

He loved her very much,

but such misunderstandings
bothered him.

Then you would say he was upset?

Yes, upset.

Thank you, sir.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Lanthrop, this lab you
shared with the Doctor,

were you aware he was conducting
research on enzymes?

Yes. A new approach in
a treatment

for extreme alcoholism,
I believe.

Did it have any potential
monetary value?

Well, hardly a magic elixir
in a bottle, no.

No, a new area of research;

a treatment to be used under
careful medical supervision,

from what Gregg told me.

Was the research advanced enough
along for testing on humans?

I don't know, but I think
I heard Gregg say something

about using the treatment, with
the University's blessings,

on some of the out-patients in
the University's Free Clinic.

Has the Doctor been working hard
at this research?

Oh, he certainly has.

Nights, weekends, every hour
of the day or night

he wasn't forced
to give elsewhere.

You're not married, are you,
Mr. Lanthrop?

I'm in research, too.

With that kind of schedule?
No, no.

No, it's not for people
who'd want

to see much of their families.

Thank you, Mr. Lanthrop.

No further questions
at this time.

I call Captain Horatio Jones
to the stand, please.

Got the upper balcony around
my place fixed up

like a quarterdeck.

Just 'cause they've retired you,

no reason to let
the barnacles grow.

Captain Jones, is your house
located near the beach

near the pier where the old
freighter is tied up?

Any closer,
my house'd be afloat!

And do you have equipment on
your quarterdeck?

Fully equipped and shipshape,
aye, sir.

Telegraph to my engine room,

uh, that's my kitchen
for when I get hungry,

Oh, uh, speaking tubes, glasses,
everything I need.

Now when you say glasses,
Captain Jones...

you're referring
to these binoculars?

Aye, sir.

See the engraved brass plate
on the side there? Gift.

Given me by the crew
of my last command.

And do you regularly use these
binoculars

from your balcony, Captain?

Whenever I get the chance,
keep a sharp eye on the horizon.

And also on the pier, Captain?

Don't exactly keep a watch on
the pier, no.

BURGER:
Yes,

but on the night Joe Velvet was
k*lled, you did look at the pier

through these glasses,
didn't you, Captain Jones?

Yes, uh, saw a commotion
going on down there

and just as I turned

my glasses on the pier,

I was just in time to see
the man who was k*lled

rolled off of the pier
into the water.

And did you then see--

and were you subsequently
able to identify--

the person who rolled
Joe Velvet's body

off that pier into the ocean?

Yes, sir, absolutely.

That feller there--

the defendant Gregory Pelham.

Why couldn't the old coot have
used those spy glasses of his

five minutes earlier, and
we'd know who k*lled Joe Velvet?

Oh, we know.

We do?

Well, let's say
we think we know,

but proving it is
another matter.

Oh, the old coot--

he did see something earlier
through those glasses.

No, Paul, not the old one--
the young one.

Here it is, Perry,
and I checked the university.

He does use one of these

when he's examining the students
for research.

Good, Della, thank you.

What gives? Are you going in
for medicine now?

No, but you are.

Here, put it on.

Young Dr. Drake.

I do declare.

This bolt--
People's Exhibit --

was identified
by the medical examiner

as the probable m*rder w*apon.

Did you examine this bolt
for fingerprints,

Lieutenant Anderson?

Yes, we found clear prints

of the entire inner surface
of the right thumb, the arch,

the first two joints but not
the end of the forefinger,

and a good deal of the palm
of the right hand.

And were you able
to identify these prints?

The prints were those
of the defendant, Dr. Pelham.

That'll be all, Lieutenant.

Cross examine, Mr. Mason?

Were there any other
fingerprints on this bolt?

Yes, but they were on the
threaded portion of the bolt,

and couldn't be identified.

Were the defendant's
fingerprints

completely around the bolt,

as though he'd held the bolt
in his hands?

Oh, that would be impossible
to determine.

All prints were destroyed
on that portion of the bolt

which later came into contact
with the surface of the pier.

Is it possible,
Lieutenant Anderson,

the defendant's prints
were never on the underside?

The bolt that was on the pier,

as it is now on
the witness stand--

you said that the underside

in contact with the pier
had no prints?

Oh, that's right.
They were wiped off

when the bolt rested
on the pier.

Or they were never there at all,

because the bolt was already
on the pier

when the defendant
inadvertently

rested his hand on top
of the bolt...

as he knelt to examine
the already-dead Joe Velvet.

Now, that is possible,
isn't it, Lieutenant?

ANDERSON:
Well...

MASON:
Isn't it, Lieutenant?!

ANDERSON:
Yes, it's possible.

Lieutenant, did you ever locate
Mrs. Pelham's purse

on the pier?

Not on the pier, in the water.

Where it was probably thrown

after Joe Velvet
had rifled its contents.

How do you know Velvet did that?

Among other things
we found on Velvet's person,

there were the items
of jewelry

Mrs. Pelham had brought along
to ransom her son.

MASON: Now, Lieutenant,
you said, "Among other things."

Other things
you found on the decedent.

What were these other things?

Some papers in his pocket.

They were soaked,
but we managed to dry them out,

put them together and read them.

These other pieces of paper--

they were notes of some sort
made with a soft pencil.

We couldn't reconstruct the
writing sufficiently to read it.

But the letter was typed
on heavy bond,

and we had no trouble with that.

Would you read the body of
the letter to the court, please?

"Here's $ , ,
part of the money you asked for.

"I'll need time to get the rest.

Please do nothing, take no
action till I get back to you.”

To whom was this letter
addressed?

To the decedent, Joe Velvet.

And by whom was it signed, sir?

By the defendant,
Dr. Gregory Pelham.

I therefore move, Your Honor,

that the defendant,
Dr. Gregory Pelham,

be bound over for trial

in Superior Court
on a charge of m*rder.

Mr. Mason, before I rule
on the motion,

do you intend
to present a defense?

I do, Your Honor.

I call Mary Manning
to the stand.

The truth, Mr. Mason?

The simple truth is...

I'm an alcoholic.

Mary, no, you don't have to.

Please take your seat, Doctor.

Mr. Mason?

MASON: All right, Mary,
you may continue.

I said I was a drunk,

somebody sick,

somebody desperately
in need of help.

I destroyed everything
that I'd ever had in my life.

The only thing I had left...

was Michael... my son.

But I couldn't ask for his love.

Not until
I'd earned his respect.

Did you have,
as inferred by the prosecution,

Dr. Pelham's love?

(sighs)

His help, his arm to lean on,

his-his... shoulder to...
to cry on.

Yes.

We met in Santa Barbara,
I know, but

that was only
so he could treat me

without the whole world
knowing about it.

You were a kind of
special patient?

One of them.

Then there were others?

Quite a number, I believe.

People in the news--
famous or near famous.

I assume the doctor kept records

of your reactions,
your progress?

Oh, yes, very careful records.

This was
an experimental program.

Everything was kept
in a small notebook he carried.

He told me
that there were no other copies,

and he kept this notebook
securely locked

in his office safe.

Do you know personally

why Dr. Pelham was being
blackmailed by Joe Velvet?

Well, apparently, Velvet had
gotten hold of the names

of the doctor's
private patients.

Unless he was paid $ , ,

he was going
to make our names public.

How do you know this?

Well, Dr. Pelham showed me

Velvet's original
blackmail letter.

Did he ask for money
to pay Velvet?

Oh, on the contrary.

He insisted
he'd pay Velvet nothing.

He wasn't breaking any laws.

He wanted the police
to handle Velvet.

But you heard testimony
indicating

Dr. Pelham did pay... $ , .

Apparently, there...

there were other patients

that he contacted that were...

that were terrified.

Like them,

I pleaded for Dr. Pelham

just to... to stall Velvet,

but that's all
Dr. Pelham said he would do!

Keep Velvet quiet

until we were all properly
notified and...

and well... prepared.

That thousand dollars...

was his own money.

(voice breaking):
He spent it just for us!

Thank you, Miss Manning.

Cross examine.

Miss Manning,

of your knowledge,
was the university aware

of the defendant's...

extra-curricular clinic?

No, I don't think
anybody else knew.

But that was only
because of the need

to protect the people involved.

He wasn't breaking any rules.

But he was treating
prominent people,

and some of them were surely...

shall we say... well-to-do?

Yes, I suppose so.

BURGER:
And if the treatment

were successful, some of those
patients, including yourself,

were sufficiently well-to-do
to express their gratitude

in a substantial
and meaningful way.

Isn't that so?

Dr. Pelham is a man
of integrity, of principle.

He would never, never
personally profit

from the miseries of others!

Nor permit somebody else,
Joe Velvet,

to profit from that misery.

Even if he was forced,
in a fit of rage,

to k*ll him
in order to prevent it!

Objection, Your Honor.

He didn't! He didn't! He didn't!

I knew the truth--

the fact that he was treating
these patients

on the outside, yes.

You read more
than your ex-husband's signature

on that letter you saw
on the doctor's desk.

You read enough to know
the blackmail was a threat

to reveal
the well-known identities

of these special patients.

I guessed what it was about,

but I didn't know
who the patients were,

what their names were, no.

How could I know?

The names were in the notebook,
the notebook was in the safe.

You admitted that you
and Dr. Pelham

alone had access
to that safe, didn't you?

I knew the combination, yes.

And you didn't use it to open
the safe, remove the notebook

and let your former husband
copy the names?

No! No, you've got
to believe me.

That night, the night
he saw me at the safe--

that was the only time, I swear,

the only time
that I opened the safe

when Dr. Pelham wasn't with me.

Yes, I saw Sande open the safe
a few times.

Always with Dr. Pelham present?

No.

That's a lie!

I gather that you saw this
at times when you were working?

Uh, yes, from the lab.

Um, I can see above
the partitions into the office.

The floor safe is against the
wall facing the lab, and, uh,

actually,
when somebody opens the safe,

I-I see them facing me as
they bend over to work the dial.

So, as a matter of fact,
though you see them facing you,

you can't testify that

you actually
see them open the safe?

No. No, I can't.

(door opening)

(wheels rolling on floor)

Mr. Lanthrop,

question of the safe
being opened

may well be the key
to this entire matter.

I'm sure you won't mind

cooperating with me
in a demonstration

for the court to show

how you were able
to see what was going on.

No. No, not at all.

Thank you.

Mr. Drake,
turn the dial, please.

Something like that?

Yes, exactly.

You work with microscopes.

Tell me, generically,

microscopes function
very much like...

...like binoculars.

Isn't that so?

More or less.

Would you take these binoculars,
please?

Now, would you hold them
to your eyes?

And keep your eyes fixed
on Mr. Drake.

Now, Mr. Lanthrop.

With Mr. Drake wearing
what Dr. Pelham

must have worn many times
while he opened that safe,

read the numbers.

The combination of the safe

as it is reflected right here.

(sighs)

I-I-I... I needed
the money. I...

I needed it so badly.

Accidentally, I...
I saw Gregg's notebook.

I-I guessed what he was doing.

I got the combination just...
just like you showed...

I copied the entries
and put the notebook back

after I gave the copy to Velvet.

He promised
to divide the money with me.

But . I didn't want
to hurt anybody, never.

But you did hurt someone

when you k*lled Joe Velvet.

(sighs)

The night I drove Gregg home,
there were...

there were two calls to my car.

The second was from Velvet,

telling what had happened
at the pier.

He was sure Gregg
would come right down there.

He was going to confront Gregg

and demand $ , ,
not just $ , .

Well, ... I drove over there,

I... I met Velvet
near the freighter.

Gregg had intimated something
about the police.

...I-I was afraid.

I-I pleaded with Velvet
to call the whole thing off,

but he-he...

Well, we fought, and I-I...
I picked up the bolt, and I...

Oh, God, help me.

(lively
instrumental music playing)

Are we, or are we not
going into that party?

Della, when was the last time
you went to a nightclub,

drank champagne
and danced till dawn?

Hmm.

That, dear boss, is a memory
so far back in time,

I can't even drag it back

to look at
and enjoy in retrospect.

All right then.

Let's create some new memories.

You're the boss.

(theme song playing)