07x28 - The Case of the Drifting Dropout

[bunniefuu]

(theme song playing)

(horns honking)

(honking continues, whistling)

(metal scraping)

(engine stops)

Well, here we are.

Back in port.

What time is it?

I don't know.

Nice moon, though,
out over the reef.

Did you see if Mr. Harper was
in his office when we drove by?

Listen, we've been riding miles
above the sharks and alligators.

He was supposed to be back
in town at : .

Annalee, shut up.

I bring you to this scenic place
and you talk about...

I'm sorry.

(sighs)

It is a beautiful moon.

(grunts) Hear the, uh,
hear the wind in the palm trees?

Barry.

Me, I can hear drums.

Well, um, what do you call
this scenic place?

Lover's Leap.

(giggles)

Well?

Too chicken to jump?

(thumping)

Hey, what do you think
you're doing,

-you dumb, stupid...
- I'm losing money,

that's what I'm doing.

: . You know
that it's : already?

I'm sorry, Mr. Lynch.

It took a little longer than
I figured to pick this one up.

- See, it was down in a ditch...
- To pick which one up?

That wreck or the girl?

Wait a minute, Mr. Lynch,
I'd like you to meet...

I know who she is, and she ought
to be ashamed of herself,

with so many nice local boys
here in Harper Junction...

Mort, Mort, cut it out.

Will you lay off the kids?

That's all right,
Mr. Dillingham.

Big politician here
just likes to hear himself yak.

Oh, that grabbed you a little,
did it?

Well, let me just tell you
what your joy-riding costs.

I'll leave out the surfing
for three hours yesterday

and your ducking out
for the golf matches last week.

Mort, Mort,
my sprinkler-heads, remember?

And I'd better be running along.

Thanks Barry.

I'm sorry, Mr. Lynch;
it was my fault.

Forget it, honey.

Just don't let that
stuffed-shirt boss of yours

know how you been slumming,
that's all.

Well, so the doctor finally
turned me loose today.

Said I should walk around
a little every afternoon.

So, I thought if my gardener
built a putting green,

back of my place,
I could, uh...

Well, anyway, who wants
to pay the hardware store

for new fixtures?

Oh, sure, sure, Mr. Dillingham,

and what you need to help you
find the stuff is an engineer,

a student of construction.

Don't worry, kid, I'll take care
of the dirty work.

You just go ahead and stroll
around with the customer, okay?

Sure, Mr. Dillingham,
I'll help you.

Say, Mort, I grant you maybe
some of our younger generation

do need a little jolting but...

I had a partner once
named Jay Davis.

Yeah, I remember him.

Way back in the w*r.

That kid is his nephew.

Oh?

I guess it just runs
in the blood.

Coming, sir?

Did you get Dillingham
all fixed up?

Couldn't make up his mind,
half inch or three quarter pipe.

I let him putter
around by himself.

Oh, you're a great salesman,
you are.

What are you taking
those away for?

They belong to me.

I didn't ask you
were you stealing them.

You'll need heavy gloves
for tomorrow morning.

You're taking a load
of sheet metal into San Diego.

One of the Mexican boys
can handle it better than I can.

Oh, good tide
for surfing tomorrow, I suppose?

- Maybe. -Or maybe a bullfight
in Tijuana?

- Sure. -Or maybe
you want to just sleep late.

Relax, will you?
I'm just quitting, that's all.

Quitting?

You barely even started.

Look, Mr. Lynch,
I know the only reason

you ever hired me
was because of my uncle.

Two months ago
I needed somebody.

I still need a good man.

Well, the debt's paid,
if that's why you did it.

Kid, kid,
what's the matter with you?

You quit one job,
you quit another...

I call you for goofing off,
you don't even care.

Get out of the way, will you?

Now you're giving up just
'cause you can't stand

me riding you.
Haven't you got any pride?

Any ambition?

Cut the sermon.

If I called you a thief,
like Miss Standish,

would that make you sore?

Yeah, yeah, right there.

You stole my tool box,
she said.

That was in the junk someplace.

I just found it;
I don't know where.

If I called the cops,
would that make you mad enough

to stand up and fight back?

There's nothing in it
but an old copper plate.

You said I could keep any metals
I wanted to fool around with.

All right, all right!

I let you work
in my shop at home , didn't I?

So why didn't you
keep working on it?

Why don't you learn
to do something?

Why don't you go back
to school and...

Mort, you know what the trouble
with you is?

You sweat things too much.

Why, you young punk.

Mr. Lynch?

Mort, are you all right?

Here.

So we don't owe
each other anything.

(engine starting)

So long, junk man.

(laughing)

Mr. Lynch, what happened?

Mort, what's the matter
with you?

Are you all right?
Can I get you a doctor?

Miss Standish, I think I finally
reached that young man.

Let go.

Well, you don't have to act
crazy with me.

Honestly,
every time I try to help...

MORT:
"Pioneer Trucking."”

What on earth is...

Say, isn't that
the company you had

with Barry's uncle
during the w*r?

Get me a can of gasoline.

What? Mort Lynch, honestly,
what's the matter with you?

You heard me; a can of gasoline.

(groans)

Australia.

You know in Australia,
they've got waves as high as...

Barry, I asked you something.

Only trouble is the sharks.

They've got sharks as long as...

Barry, what are you going
to do now?

Insurance.

Now there's a good dodge.

Like that guy Dillingham.

Make a lot of friends
when you're young,

sell them all life insurance,

then settle back and collect
coupons the rest of your life.

You think I'm a drag, don't you?

MAN:
Shocking,

positively shocking,

the things one sees
on a beach, these days.

Mr. Harper.

And what am I to tell your boss,
my dear brother?

Tell him his secretary
wasted her lunch hour

trying to lure me from the ranks
of the unemployed.

Don't yield, young man,
do not yield.

(chuckles)
There, you see?

He walks on the beach every day;
I've seen him.

You stare at that ocean,

you wash out
this crazy world, right?

Well, I'm afraid, young man,

that when I count those waves,

I'm just doping seven horses.

And when the biggest one breaks,

I'm listening
for the name of a winner.

You're all right, Mr. Harper.

Hang loose,
you know what I mean?

I do believe I have just
been paid a tribute.

Well, I'm getting back
to the office.

Annalee, wait.

Yes, wait.

I haven't paid my tribute yet.

To the stalwart slugger.

To the valiant newcomer
who beat up the town bully.

To the mauler of Mort.

Who told you?

Oh, news travels fast
in a small town, young man,

as you'll discover
when you're a reporter.

When what?

Well, don't blame me.

My dear brother feels

that a public service
should be rewarded, perhaps.

Who knows?

Mr. Harper wants Barry
to work on his paper?

- Barry?
- Well, it's not that funny.

Well, I mean, they only hire
journalism majors.

I told him that I thought
your new boyfriend

had flunked out of college.

Uh, dropped out.

Of course,

even more admirable.

How much money
does this job get me?

Barry, he's only
doing you a favor.

- I don't know why, but he's...
- Well, that's what you've been

yelling about, isn't it,
for me to do something?

Sure.

Sure, maybe he even wants me
to be sports editor.

Who cares why?

Of course.

Who cares why?

Hang loose?

BARRY:
Mort?

You want me to write
about Mort Lynch?

Well, you don't have to worry
about the actual writing.

Legwork, that's what we need.

Someone energetic,
to dig up the facts.

Someone aggressive.

But I don't even understand
how you got this picture.

How anyone
could have taken that.

A publisher
never reveals his sources.

That's one of the first rules.

You hate this man, don't you?

- You hate him.
- Mort?

Well, he rode me a lot,
made fun of me maybe, but...

In public, too,

in front of Annalee,
and to others.

He's a boil on this town, Barry.

Ever since he came back here
five years ago,

he's made trouble for everyone.

I guess you don't want him
to be mayor, do you?

Well, I know
how this must sound,

but my family has lived here
since .

We've had our ups and downs,

but we've been honest, Barry.

We've guided the town,
never used it.

My brother,
before he started drinking,

he built the paper for instance,
as a public service.

It never really makes money.

I always thought Mort Lynch
was honest, at least.

Is he?

Does a leopard change his spots?

What do you mean?

Well, Mort Lynch
was here before.

Way back during the w*r.

All he owned was
a fly-by-night trucking outfit,

mostly back and forth
to the Mexican border towns,

but then his partner died
and he moved to L.A.,

bought his first junk yard,

had money hand over fist.

Rich overnight.

But that's as far as I can get.

I could never figure out
quite how he did it.

What do you expect me
to do, Mr. Harper?

Barry, this morning
I just discovered something.

That partner of his who died
in some sort of a vague fight,

accident or something
in Tijuana,

that was your uncle, right?

Someone named Jay Davis.

Real nice guy, too, I guess.

'Course, I was only
a baby at the time--

I don't really remember him.

There might be some
other relatives who...

No, Mr. Harper.

That one uncle's about the only
family I ever heard about.

And even him, my mother
used to run down sometimes

just 'cause he stopped
helping her out...

There might be some old letters.

He might've written your mother,
talked about Mort Lynch.

You know something,

Mort won't ever talk
about my uncle.

Every time I ask him,
he just switches it off.

Barry, what really happened
to your nice uncle?

And how did Mort Lynch
really get his start?

' , ' ...

I usually make a note
of any local investigations,

even if I didn't handle
the policy myself.

Mother always said my uncle
should've left her something.

She never could understand
why he didn't.

Nope! Nothing here.

Well, I can check
the other agents in town

and check their records,
however...

insurance companies, young man,
seldom make mistakes.

Where there's life insurance,
they pay it.

You will check for me, though,

right away, won't you,
Mr. Dillingham?

Of course.
And I won't tell anyone why,

if that's what you want.

Thank you.

But don't you tell
on me, either.

(chuckles)
Know where this came from?

Rolled over ten times
trying to get out of town

the night that Lynch decided
to run for mayor. (chuckles)

But never mind that story.

This town belongs
to Dell Harper, young fella.

Lynch wants it.

Don't get caught in the middle.

♪♪

You didn't give me
much time, you know.

With just those few facts
on the telephone, I couldn't...

But I don't know much.

See, Mother's dead now.

Well, she never said
one word about my father.

But this Uncle Jay,

I remember his picture
over the fireplace.

He was a big guy, good-looking.

Whose name
wasn't only Jay Davis.

Yes, it was.

Didn't you say your mother told
you he was missing sometimes?

Well, sure, he disappeared
now and again.

You know, he's one
of those carefree guys.

Sailor sometimes,
cowboy, steeplejack.

The kind of guy who
really lived a good life.

Uh-huh.

And sometimes he
lived it as Gleason,

and once he lived it
as Ginsburg.

Now, why would he do that.

Why do you want
this information?

What are you gonna do with it?

Well... use it, maybe.

See, it's just possible
a man named Lynch

clipped him in some way.

Lynch is no good--
he cheated my uncle,

-he stole from him...
- Barry,

your uncle Jay Davis
served time

under all sorts of names.

He did what?

And for all sorts
of romantic things.

as*ault, bad checks,
three years for counterfeiting.

My uncle was a crook?

Look, kid...

when you look up old relatives,

it rarely turns out
the way you hope it will.

Maybe your mother
was just dreaming a little

-when she told you...
-(laughs)

What's so funny?

Mr. Drake...

you know the biggest dream
my mother ever had?

That she'd get hit
by a street car

so she could sue
the transit company.

(door opens)

(door closes)

No, you won't call me back.

I'm on my way home right now,

and you're going to meet me.

Yes, right now.

Look, kid, I'm busy;
send me a postcard.

Mr. Lynch...

Mort...

Here. I was gonna have
Miss Standish send it to you.

Call it your
final paycheck, okay?

Mort, please, will you?
There are some things

I got to get straight.

Aw, no, kid.

You've caused
enough trouble around here.

You want to be a drifter, okay,

take that and keep
your mouth shut.

- Go drift.
-(phone ringing)

(heavy sigh)

LYNCH:
Listen, I told you...

All right, Miss Standish,

I don't care
where you are, just...

Al right,

all right, lock up later,
I don't care. Skip it!

(engine starts)

(sighs)

as*ault... bad checks...

three years for counterfeiting.

(sighs)

(sighs)

(quietly):
Five thousand dollars!

(starts engine)

(tires screech)

Mr. Lynch?

Mr. Lynch, I got a...

Mort?

Oh, Mort...

Mort...

(sobbing)

Wait, you can't lock that desk!

Sergeant!

Sergeant...

Sergeant, now, you tell him
not to lock my desk.

I've got bills to pay!

What about today's deliveries?

There are companies that
are counting on this yard!

Don't worry, Miss Standish,
this has to be done.

When they're finished checking,
they'll release everything.

Oh, Mr. Mason,
what am I gonna do?

years I've worked
for Mr. Lynch.

Why don't you go home
and get some rest.

They've already let
your men go back to work.

The police will lock the office.

But somebody k*lled him.

I can't eat, I can't sleep,

I can't do anything until
they find that awful person...

I know.

Mort Lynch was
my friend for years.

- I'm just as eager as you are
to see that... -(door closes)

What are you doing here?

I was just wondering
if there's anything I can do.

Uh... well, I-l mean, I just
now found out what happened,

and... I mean, I was up in
Los Angeles all day yesterday,

and I...

I'm terribly sorry.

Sorry?!

Sergeant, that's the man
who was fired by Mr. Lynch!

- It's all right, lady.
- Who struck him down!

- It's all right.
- Who practically...

We already talked to the boy
over at headquarters.

So, I just thought if there's...

anything I can do, ...

Well, I remembered
the sheet iron for San Diego,

and... I figured if you
didn't have enough Mexican boys,

then maybe I...

All right, go on! Go on!

Uh, just a moment.

You're Barry Davis, aren't you?

- Yes, sir.
- Paul Drake told me about you

when he discovered that Mort
Lynch was one of my clients.

Oh, you're Perry Mason.

Paul also told me
why you went to see him.

Oh, well, sure, I mean,
that's how I got his name.

Mr. Lynch once said
something about you

and about him, and, uh, well,

I didn't know
any other detectives to go to.

Paul said he was investigating
an uncle of yours.

(laughs):
Oh, you mean that?

Oh, I told the police
all about that, Mr. Mason,

if that's what's bothering you.

No, that's not bothering me.

In fact, Paul didn't feel free
to tell me all this

until he knew you'd
spoken to the police.

Paul said you
seemed pretty upset

over the news
concerning your uncle.

Well, sure, I mean,
it's not so good

you find out someone's a crook.

Only that, uh, that's got
nothing to do with this.

I mean, it's the reason
I stayed up in L.A., that's all.

I hit a few bars too many,
feeling sorry for myself,

to drive back, and...
well, you know.

Yes, I know.
Barry, I just arrived,

and I haven't seen
Mr. Lynch recently.

Perhaps you can fill me in on...

Mr. Mason, please, the boys
really do need me over there,

and, well,
if I knew anything, I'd...

Well... there's a lot
of sheet metal for San Diego.

Of course, Barry, I understand.

Oh, we may be
a little slow, Mr. Drake,

but we always get there.

You borrow technicians
from the city?

Just to double-check
my own man, that's all.

You mean he
didn't find anything?

You can tell Mr. Mason
we've got several people

we're keeping an eye on.

Look, Chief, open up, will you?

What actually happened
here last night?

He was hit over the head
with something.

- Haven't found out what yet.
- When?

: p.m., maybe.

Only been dead a few minutes

when Mr. Harper
found him lying there.

Is that the Mr. Harper
who owns a newspaper

and maybe half the money
in this town?

No, sir, that's the Mr. Harper

who spends half the money
in this town.

- Wrong horses, wrong dice.
- Oh.

At least he was sober enough
to call me quick.

It looks like Mr. Lynch put up

a pretty good fight
for his life.

What else was messed up
around here?

It wasn't robbery,
if that's what you're thinking.

At least nothing touched.

He still had $ in his wallet.

Plus this.

Five hundred and ten dollars.

Look again.

Well, it's been folded
like he carried it a long time.

Good luck piece, maybe?

Try once more.

Series .

Mr. Drake, that's one of the
finest pieces of counterfeiting

you'll ever see in your life.

MASON: But you were
at the junkyard last night.

Miss Standish said
you were talking to Mr. Lynch

-when she left.
- Uh, that's right.

I had stopped by
with the station wagon

to pick up some more pipe
and things.

Mort was upset about something,
I don't know what.

What did the two
of you talk about?

Well, he was curious
about something

that I've been checking on
for this young man, Barry Davis.

Seems the boy had
an Uncle, Jay Davis,

who was Lynch's
original partner.

He died back in .

I find that he had $ ,
in life insurance

and that Lynch was
the, um... beneficiary.

If Lynch was the beneficiary,

he must have already known
all of that.

Well, he did, of course,
and Mort got the money

-and then moved on
to Los Angeles. -Well, then...

Well, he also knew that when he
and Davis first teamed up,

that he'd insisted
on Davis making him beneficiary

on an old life policy
that he had.

Why was that-- to protect Lynch,

to show good faith perhaps
since Davis was an ex-convict?

That would have been my guess,
yes, mm-hmm.

Though I suppose
other people may use

a different interpretation
since the man died.

Oh, nonsense.

Look here, Mr. Dillingham.

What exactly did you find out

that Mort Lynch didn't know
about that old insurance policy?

I found that Jay Davis had
listed alternate beneficiaries,

none of whom collected
of course,

and third and fourth
down on the list

were the names of his sister
and that of her infant son.

- Named Barry.
Mm-hmm.

Thank you, Mr. Dillingham.

Oh, one thing more:

why didn't you tell
the boy this--

before telling Lynch, I mean?

I never had a chance,
I never saw the lad,

and I certainly
wasn't gonna leave

any messages at his office.

Barry's office?

At the newspaper, I mean.

That's who put
the lad up to this--

this nosing
into ancient history...

Mr. Harper.

Dell Harper.

But Mr. Harper
isn't seeing anyone.

He's busy
with the newspaper and...

(phone rings)

Hello.

I'm sorry, Mr. Harper
can't talk to you now.

Mr. Mason,
can't this wait until...?

(phone rings)

Hello.

I'm sorry, Mr. Harper isn't...

(gasps)

Are you all right?

I-I mean, where are you?

But I just can't leave.

(sighs)

Well, of course, I-I'll come out
and pick up the copy right away.

Yes, as fast as I can.

All right, all right, fill it
with the Washington story.

Use your own judgment.

- Annalee, get me...
-(door opens)

Excuse me, Mr. Harper.

My name is Perry Mason.

Oh, yes, of course.

Poor Mort's lawyer.

Shocking thing, isn't it?

Shocking.

I heard that you called back
your morning edition.

I was curious about it.

Well, do you blame me?

Wherever he is,
Mort would laugh his head off

at the trouble I've had.

It's hardly in good taste
anymore, would you say?

"Lynch Settles
Labor-Management Dispute.”

(chuckles)

All's fair in love and politics.

My brother wrote that--

his annual contribution
to the paper.

This picture has been blown up
so much,

it's hard to know
where it was taken.

Look here, Mason,
I think the police

are handling this pretty well.

Now, I can appreciate how you
feel, having a client m*rder*d,

and I'm sure you're aware
that I was Mort's worst enemy,

but I'll tell you
why I'm really too busy

to talk to you right now:
I'm writing an editorial, sir,

a public apology
for all the unpleasant,

even nasty things
I've ever said about Mort.

It's all right, Mr. Harper,

I have something
more important to do.

Hello, Mr. Mason,
looking for somebody?

I was told at the junkyard
that Barry Davis lives here.

Well, the kid's not here,
I'm sorry to say.

What's that?

Well, like the chief
always says,

we're slow but we get there.

I suppose it prints
ten-dollar bills.

Uh-huh, .

Seems to me there's a law

against even possessing
a plate like this.

- Isn't that right?
-(phone ringing)

Maybe I'd better just
take this in, Joe.

Okay.

Yes.

Oh, yeah, just came in.

Must be a man
by the name of Drake.

He's been trying to call you.

Seemed anxious about something.

Why the laundry?

Boy is not very good
at washing out bloodstains.

Hello.

Yes, Paul.

Good.

No, no, I'll still meet you.

It's something I think a client
would want me to do, Paul.

I'll be there right away.

- All right, young lady.
-(gasps) Barry!

All right, Barry,
what are you going to do?

I-I thought it was the police.

What if it were?

Did you plan to throw rocks
at them or just run away?

I was just sitting here,
trying to explain to Annalee,

trying to figure it out.

You're not very good at it.

Oh, look, Mr. Mason...

Mort Lynch told me all about you
a couple weeks ago.

I can imagine,
in words you can't print.

Where were you last night?

-I wasn't here.
-I said, where were you?

He was dead.

I heard somebody coming
and I ran.

Look, Mr. Mason,

there's this copper plate
you make money with.

He was all upset and he had it
locked in his desk,

but I took it out of his car,

but I was the one who found it
in the first place

just out in the junk!

But how'd it get there?!

I spent the whole night trying
to find every Mexican boy

who ever worked in that place,

and that's why I was there
this morning!

- All right, Barry. -And he gave
me a check for $ , -- why?

Mr. Harper said Mort was a crook

just like he told you
I'm no good.

Just like my uncle, he said,
a bum, a drifter, a goof-off.

Fine, goof some more,
cry about it.

Look, Mr. Mason,
don't you understand?

If there was just time so
I could figure out what I did,

what I did
that made Mort Lynch die.

Well, they found
a bloody pipe wrench

hidden in the back of your car.

What?

Barry, Mort wouldn't
have called you names

if he hadn't been trying
to help you

and if he hadn't thought
you were worth

being helped by his lawyer.

I think they're going
to hold you

for first-degree m*rder, Barry.

(indistinct chatter)

Ooh... ooh.

(music playing)

Agua Caliente--

two of the prettiest words
in the language.

"Agua" means "water,”
like when you take a bath.

The horses seem to run
between the flowers.

Let's talk about your brother.

As I understand it, he's always
felt he's owned this town.

No, no, not always.

As a matter of fact,
if it hadn't been

for a handy inheritance my wife
thoughtfully left me years ago,

he might have foundered, too.

Oh, but inherited money
is all right.

It's only when you make it
with your bare hands

like Mort Lynch did...

You mean printed his own maybe?

Drake, if I could
remember anything

about Lynch and his partner
in those old, old days,

I'd tell you.

I'd like to help the kid.

All right, but what about now?

Your brother's been hammering
pretty hard at Lynch.

That's the trouble.

Those who live here and are
friends with both of them

have to close their ears
and walk away to avoid a fight.

I don't know what's bugging
my brother, and, believe me,

family loyalty is not among
my vast repertoire of virtue.

All right, let's get back
to the hot water.

Caliente.

The band, the music.

And Tijuana
and business across the border.

Drake, when those horses
come floating

between the flowers...

Ha-ha.

Will you tell the court,
Mr. Dillingham,

when did you leave
Mr. Lynch alone

there in his office
at the junkyard?

About : , quarter of : ,
no later.

: , quarter to : , no later.

Mr. Dillingham, did you hear
the chief of police testify

that he arrived at
the decedent's house at : ?

I did.

And the doctor's statement

that Mort Lynch died
no more than a half hour

before he got there?

- Yes. -How long
would you say it would take

to drive from the Lynch junkyard
to the Lynch house?

Oh, about ten or minutes,
I suppose.

And in that three-quarters
of an hour, more or less,

after you left him but before
his m*rder*r must have met him,

do you have
any personal knowledge

of what Mort Lynch did?

Well, all I can tell you
is that when I left,

he was reaching
for the telephone.

Oh, he must have made
several telephone calls

or at least one long one.

And how do you know that,
Miss Standish?

Well, I was over at my mother's
that evening.

She's not well.

I put her to bed and then
I decided to stay a little while

to make sure that she was
resting comfortably,

so I tried to reach the junkyard

to tell Mr. Lynch
that maybe he ought

to stay over
and lock up by himself.

PROSECUTOR:
You say you tried to call?

Yes, the line kept being busy.

Finally I reached him at : .

PROSECUTOR:
At : ?

STANDISH:
About : ,

and he answered angrily like
he thought I was somebody else.

He said, "Look, I told you..."

But that's all he said because
I told him to mind his manners.

He was so impatient
when I talked about locking up.

He said, "All right, all right"
as if he didn't care

and then he slammed
the phone in my ear.

PROSECUTOR:
So what did you do next?

I slept on the couch
at my mother's.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Miss Standish...

are you a photographer?

I beg your pardon?

The local camera shop tells me
you're quite handy

with a camera,
so I thought perhaps...

Your Honor...

If it pleases the court,
I was merely going to ask

Miss Standish
if she took this picture.

PROSECUTOR:
We see no reason, Your Honor,

for causing
unnecessary embarrassment

here, and certainly
no groundwork has been laid.

I appreciate your point,
Mr. Prosecutor,

but frankly I'd like to know
who took that picture, too.

This is as good a time
as any to find out.

Well, Miss Standish?

I'd been watching them quarrel.

My camera was in the office
with fast film.

Why did you take it?

Why did you then sell
the picture to the newspaper?

I didn't sell it to Mr. Harper.

I gave it to him.

MASON:
Why?

(crying):
I didn't want Mort to be mayor.

Why not, Miss Standish?

years

and he still used me
to lock up every night.

years and he still
called me Miss Standish.

years.

: , : .

Yes, that was about the time
that Mort Lynch telephoned me--

just the one call.

He said he was on his way home,

that I should go over
and meet him there.

I wasn't too fast about it
unfortunately.

By the time I arrived there,
Mort Lynch was dead,

as I explained earlier.

Will you explain
something else, please?

You say he phoned you, but you
were at your brother's house,

the residence
of Mr. Dell Harper.

Oh, perhaps he wanted
to talk to Dell--

I don't know--
but Dell wasn't there.

Dell had gone down to the office
for a while.

Anyway, when I heard
that angry voice, I thought

I'd better go out and see
what Mort was fuming about.

All right, Mr. Harper,
one more thing.

When you arrived
at the Lynch house,

did you see anyone else there?

SANFORD:
No.

PROSECUTOR: Did you see a car?
Either coming or going?

No, sir.

I saw nothing.
Nothing at all.

Well, I saw a car.
Sure, I did.

You live next door
to the Lynch House, do you?

No, across the side street,

katty-corner.

I got a little bachelor
apartment over the garage there.

And what exactly
did you see that night?

Well, I work midnight shift
in San Diego.

I was just walking down
to catch a : bus.

If anybody pulled up
in front of Lynch's,

I wouldn't have seen it,

but down the side street there,

I noticed somebody pushing
an old sports car,

then halfway down the block,
he started up,

still didn't turn his lights on,
drove away.

And can you identify

the person you saw
pushing the sports car

away from the Lynch house?

Sure, absolutely.

It was the kid there.

Mr. Harper, you've testified

that you hired Barry Davis
to learn what he could

about Mort Lynch.

You've even admitted that you
didn't want a reporter,

you wanted a troublemaker.

-I didn't use any word like that.
-All right, a snooper,

an angry investigator,
it's the same thing, isn't it?

Mr. Mason, I wanted to make
trouble for Lynch.

I thought the boy
might uncover something

I hadn't been able to reach,

but in the light of what
happened, I'm terribly sorry

for what I did...
but I did it.

What exactly did you think
the boy might uncover?

Well, I thought if he stirred
the water,

there was this matter
of how Lynch got his start.

- Bought his first junk yard.
- Couldn't you have

learned that out for yourself?
Couldn't you have discovered

quite easily that Lynch
received $ ,

life insurance money as a result
of his partner's death?

I had heard some talk
of insurance, perhaps, but...

MASON: And that there was
nothing wrong with that policy?

That Lynch was properly listed
as the first beneficiary?

I could've checked with the
insurance company, yes, but...

MASON:
Of course you could.

So there was obviously
something else,

some other hornet's nest you
wanted the boy to prod for you.

But see here,
everybody in town knows now,

since the m*rder, that Lynch
and his old partner

must have been mixed up in some
sort of counterfeiting thing.

So surely I could...

MASON: You mean, you already
knew before the m*rder

about some sort of
"counterfeiting thing?"

No! No, I just...

MASON: Mr. Harper,
my investigator tells me

that you've made several visits
to Tijuana lately.

To the police office there.

Now I'll ask you again:

what dirty water
did you hope to stir?

Does a counterfeit $ bill
have anything to do with it?

No, I just told you.
I never dreamed of...

PROSECUTOR:
May it please the Court...

may I speak?

Yes, I was wondering
if you weren't

going to make
some objection, here.

It hadn't been our intention
to go into this,

just yet, Your Honor,
since we consider

our case against the defendant

to be quite open and shut
on the factual evidence.

In the matter of motive,
however,

reasons for the boy's
violent anger against Lynch,

well, investigations have just
been re-opened in Mexico

that might give us a clue.

Investigations of what,
Mr. Prosecutor?

Oh, perhaps that could be
answered more easily

if I just removed
any objection whatsoever

to the witness answering
Mr. Mason's questions.

Well, go on, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Harper?

All right, yes.

I did have a lead
on something else.

There's a police officer
down there, retired,

who says that Jay Davis

did not die
an accidental death in .

He swears up and down
that Lynch's former partner

was m*rder*d.

He is right, Perry, there was
the possibility of m*rder,

but that was settled in .
Insufficient evidence.

And I don't think any
new investigation

is gonna show
anything different.

Anyway, here's
some other stuff from Tijuana.

BARRY: Look, Mort Lynch didn't
k*ll my uncle or anyone else.

- He just wasn't...
-I thought you didn't like Mort?

Go on, Paul.
What about the counterfeiting?

Well, the Treasury Department
boys are all excited.

Seems some duplicate bills to
that one Lynch had in his pocket

were picked up, during the w*r
in South America,

but they were never traced
to anyone printing them

up here in the States. It's one
of their few unsolved cases.

I suppose a large number
of those bills

could have been filtered across
the border by a truck driver.

And disposed of by some
confederate in Mexico.

So if Mort Lynch
and his partner...

BARRY:
Ah, that's all crazy.

If Mort was counterfeiting once,

why would he hang onto that bill
all these years?

Or the counterfeit plate?

No, Della,
Barry found that.

Sure, out in the junk.

Now, if I could figure how
it got there, then maybe,

-just maybe...-DELLA: Perry, I
don't understand

why anyone would want
to keep that plate.

It just doesn't make sense for a
criminal to keep evidence of...

Doesn't it? Think again, Della.

- What? -MASON: On your way
to the Probate Court.

DRAKE:
Perry,

I think I know what you're
driving at, but...

Good, Paul.

Think about it some more
while you do some driving.

- Fast driving.
- Where?

How about the Department
of Motor Vehicles?

Mr. Harper...

I asked to have you recalled
so we could clarify

a small point
in your earlier testimony.

It concerns that telephone call
from Mr. Lynch

which you received
at your brother's house.

Now you stated, I believe,

that your brother had gone
to the office that evening?

That's where I thought
he went, yes.

How many telephones
are in your brother's house?

Oh, several...

two upstairs, I guess,
and one in the study.

Isn't it possible that he
actually was in the house

that evening

and that you didn't know it?

Well, I...

I noticed that on the stand

your brother avoided saying
where he was that evening.

Now, look, I may have been
mistaken, but...

well, I took the call.

And told Mr. Lynch that
your brother was not at home?

Yes.

MASON: Then how could you
have been mistaken?

Didn't you go look
for your brother?

Look in the other rooms?

I don't remember very clearly.

I was at the races that day.

Al right...

let's talk about the races.

How much did you spend that day?

Much too much I'm afraid.

See I was at Caliente...

MASON: Several hundred dollars?
A thousand perhaps?

I'd be afraid to estimate.

Or is $ nearer to the truth?

- Your Honor.
- JUDGE: Just a moment.

Mason, what's the point
of this line of questioning?

Your Honor...

lam curious about a man
pretends to lose

large amounts of money
when he really doesn't.

My investigator reports
that Mr. Harper

is well known
at the Caliente track

as strictly a $ plunger.

But Your Honor, this witness
isn't on trial.

However, he is well known
for his gambling.

I'm afraid I'm going to have
to allow this, Mr. Prosecutor.

Mr. Harper,

how much do you lose
every year at gambling?

Perhaps...

perhaps $ ,
or $ , .

Where? In Las Vegas?

The hotels report
that you only see the shows?

Only play bingo,
or the slot machine.

Well, I go up to Santa Anita.

How do you really spend
your money, Mr. Harper?

Answer the question.

Answer him, Sanford.
Tell the truth.

I give my brother half the
proceeds of our holdings, yes.

Why, Mr. Harper?

Why do you give him so much when
he does so little to help you?

Sanford saved me once.

He turned over
an inheritance to me...

it saved me financially.

An inheritance?

HARPER:
From his wife.

She died in, in ,

Did you ever see a probate
record of her holdings?

HARPER:
No, they were separated.

She died in the East.

Sanford went back there
to take care of all that.

MASON:
I see.

Tell me, what was Sanford's job
at the time?

Well, he was trying to get
the newspaper started.

Newspaper and printing shop,

isn't that what you mean?

HARPER:
Yes.

Mr. Harper, were you at home
the night Lynch died?

Yes, I was.

Sanford, Sanford said, he'd
answer the phone if it rang,

and, well, there were
a couple of calls.

That's all I know.

So he wanted to be
in touch with Lynch.

He was afraid
of your talking to Lynch?

Sanford, you've been paying
Lynch money,

haven't you?
That's where that money's

been going, year after year...

MASON: One moment, Mr. Harper.
It will be

defense's contention
that your brother

has been paying blackmail, yes,

but not paying it to Mort Lynch.

- Blackmail?
- Why else would someone

in this town
have kept a counterfeiting plate

for all those years?
Unless he wanted to blackmail

one counterfeiter
who was still alive?

But I don't know anything
about this. I don't.

Of course you don't.

Your Honor, I would like to
recall at this time...

Mr. Dillingham.

I make my money
from insurance I've sold.

In the past, I sold
hundreds of policies.

MASON: Are you quite sure
the insurance companies

will verify that,
Mr. Dillingham?

Now about this
counterfeiting plate.

I don't know anything about
any counterfeit plate.

I don't know anything about...

Then why, the moment you
left the hospital,

did you go directly
to the junk yard,

and begin searching
and searching?

I was buying sprinkler heads.

MASON:
Mr. Dillingham,

when you rolled over
in your car,

what later happened
to that car?

What?

I warn you,
the Motor Vehicle Department

reports that it was hauled away
as junk.

All right, suppose it was.

Was an old tool box
somewhere in that car?

An old tool box
containing a copper plate?

No!

He's lying.

He'd never let that plate
out of his sight. He's lying.

Order, Order. Sit down, there.

No, I will not sit down,
Your Honor, because I am a fool.

For years I've given
my blood to that man.

Oh, yes, I helped
a counterfeiter, once.

I helped Jay Davis print
some bills and pretended

the profits came from my wife,

but I did not commit m*rder.

Mort Lynch was dead
when I got there.

He told me over the phone,
he had it all figured out,

but he was dead
when I got there.

And you, Dillingham,
you must have k*lled him!

(indistinct murmuring)

I, I...

Then Dillingham k*lled
Barry's uncle, too?

Admitted it.

Dillingham caught on
to the counterfeiting boys

back in .

Your uncle tangled with him
and that was it.

But Sanford Harper
never guessed that.

He just paid his blackmail
and kept on paying it.

The hang loose guy.
The free and easy, both of them.

Two nicest guys
in town I thought.

I'll control the impulse to say

that the young
can sometimes be wrong.

Well, the young don't stay young
forever, Mr. Mason.

But, well, it's still really
my fault Mort had to die.

No, Barry, it isn't.

Somewhere, somehow
he'd found that one bill.

DRAKE: And when the copper plate
turned up,

Mort got stubborn, and did some
investigating on his own.

He got so close to the truth
that Dillingham panicked

and had to k*ll him,

and that's all
there was to it.

Well, I'm not gonna...

claim this, or whatever you do
with checks after people die.

What's that?

$ , Mort gave me.
Conscience money, I guess.

Just 'cause I'd never got any
of my uncle's insurance.

But you said you were
going back to college.

This check would be honored

as a claim
against Mort's estate.

Besides, what about Annalee?

Well, she's gonna wait, too.

What I mean is, you hang
onto that check, Mr. Mason...

until I earn it.

(theme song playing)