06x08 - The Case of the Stand-In Sister

[bunniefuu]

Sit down, Jahnchek.
I'll let you know when you may go.

Senator Cord, the sub-committee
has recessed for lunch.

We are not now in session,

so as Mr. Jahnchek's counsel
may I point out --

You may not.

I subpoenaed you out of
a Federal penitentiary

because it occurred to me that having
served almost all of a -year sentence,

you might have undergone at least
the rudiments of reformation.

It was my hope that you would
co-operate with this committee

in its efforts to expose the organized
criminality existing in this country today.

Fat chance, Buster.

Instead of co-operating,
you have blocked us at every turn.

In the course of this first day's hearing,
you have evaded, you have lied,

you have seen fit to plead the Fifth
Amendment no less than times!

I didn't ask to come here!

Your attitude may be different
when you face a Federal Grand Jury

on charges of perjury and contempt
of a United States Senate Committee!

- What....?
- Marshal.

- Yes, Senator?
- Have this man returned to the penitentiary.

- I don't want to see him again.
- Now, wait a minute!

What's this about a Grand Jury?
What's going on here?

You've been parroting
your counsel's advice -- ask him!

All right, let's have it.
What was he talking about in there?

- We'll stay here for lunch.
- Never mind him. I asked you a question!

They had you cold, Steve -- every time
you lied to that Committee,

they were looking down your throat
with documented proof.

I didn't say anything but
what you told me to say. I --

Oh, you knew about that proof,
before you --

[sighs]
Big Steve Jahnchek --

I'm elected Public Patsy Number One!
That's it, huh?

The boys upstairs,
the ones who pay me, Steve,

they figured the odds, that's all.

Sure, sure! Let's not open up
any new cans of peas.

Let Big Steve take the rap, huh?
Let him rot a coupla' more years in jail!

Why not?
Well, I'll tell you why not!

I got dough waiting for me--
big dough!

Enough to lam out of this country
and live like a king, that's why not.

Now, be smart, Steve.
If you've got a bankroll set aside,

it'll wait, it'll still be there.

That's where you're wrong.
It won't. I can't wait!

Steve, the answer is "no".
It's got to be this way.

- I won't sit still for this. I won't!
- Hey! Cut that out!

Don't do it, Steve! Steve,
they'll throw the book at you! Steve!

Yeah. John Gregory.

G...R...E...G...O...R...Y.

North La Brea Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California.

Night letter. That's right.

Relax, Nick.
I never saw you so jumpy.

Relax, he says.

You're the captain
of one little tuna boat.

Look at me, I've got just like her
and more on lease-purchase.

You don't see me sweating it.

No, I'm sweating for you.

I should have my head examined,
suggesting this deal in the first place.

You know what happens if just one single
step goes haywire, don't you, John?

You lose your shirt.

I'll make the tonnage, and that means my
merger with Bickel's cannery will go through.

Then I'll pay for on my boats.

If you deliver as much fish
as you signed up for.

- If you don't, you're dead.
- We'll see.

- Daddy!
- Hello, baby.

Oh! You didn't shave.

Just like when you were
a little kid.

Gone a couple of weeks and you
complain about your old daddy's whiskers.

Well, they scratch.

I missed you, you big Hunyak.

What you got rigged for me today?

Some shopping?
Stuff for a trousseau, maybe?

Nothing so extravagant. We're going
to hear Van speak at a Woman's Club rally.

Oh, it isn't bad enough I'm losing
my daughter to a rising young politician,

I've got to listen to his
campaign speeches in the bargain.

I stopped by your office. Nothing urgent.

Except, uh, maybe this telegram.

Anything the matter, fisherman?

No, no, it's just that, um--

Well, I can't go
to the rally with you, Helen.

Tell Van I'm sorry I couldn't make it,
but I just remembered,

I've got to see somebody on business.

You go on. I'll use the company car
here on the dock.

[car starting]

[accented speech] The story on
Jahnchek's escape is almost a week old.

It's buried way
in the back of the paper.

- What?
- Don't be alarmed, Mr. Gregory.

I only wish to speak to you.
My name is Moray.

- I'm not looking for work. I am retired.
- What do you want?

From the Boston office of
the Swiss Federated Bank of Zurich.

Look, Mr. Moray.
I'm a busy man. I--

Did you say, "Swiss"?

...Federated Bank of Zurich.

For the past years, I've personally
handled your daughter's trust fund.

Yes, I remember your name now.

I've seen your name on correspondence.

$ , , half of the trust fund paid

when your daughter was ten,

the other half is due when she's --
in less than a year.

Not an unusual trust fund at all, sir.

Except for the difference in the names.

See, a trust fund set up by another man

for his daughter,
being paid to your daughter:

the girl you call Helen Gregory.

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

As trustee of this trust fund,

you've already accepted $ , ,

and I assume you plan to accept

the remaining $ ,
for your own daughter--

despite the fact that the money

was left to someone else.

Get out of here.

The young man who is
about to marry your daughter

is running for Congress.

What would happen to him,
and your daughter,

if I lodge a criminal complaint
against you?

- For what?
- Felony fraud.

$ , ,

and you'll never see
or hear from me again.

There is a way-- papers I can sign--

put me in your control,

to make sure that you make
only this one "pension" payment...

if you go along with me... now!

Every cent I own is tied up.

Where am I going
to come up with that much cash?

That's your problem.

I'll call you later.

Good day, sir.

As Mr. Gregory's attorney,
I appreciate your coming here

on such short notice, Mr. Bickel.

You're trying to renege on the merger?

No, certainly not, it's just that I--

The fact is, Mr. Bickel,
we'd like to ask a postponement.

As you know, Mr. Gregory has $ ,
of his own company stock in escrow.

I have an equal amount tied up,
in case you've forgotten.

We realize that.
But Mr. Gregory finds himself

in urgent need of ready funds
for another purpose.

For what other purpose?

It's something I can't talk about.
I haven't even discussed it with Mr. Mason.

I don't know what you're trying to pull,
but I don't like the smell of it.

Either this merger goes through,
and on the date specified,

or it doesn't go through at all.

If that happens,
you forfeit your escrow.

You ought to know the penalty clause.
You helped write the contract.

Look, Bickel, you won't lose anything by
letting me off the hook for a couple of days.

- If I could only explain to you--
- It wouldn't do one bit of good.

The answer would still be "no".

Nick.

How much money is in that special account
you've been keeping for me?

Well, as near as I can remember,
a little over $ , .

I want you to draw it out.

- All of it?
- In cash. Now, today!

I thought you told me you could swing
the new fleet and the cannery merger

without touching that money--
what's wrong?

Don't push, Nick, don't push.
I'd tell you if I could.

Okay, John. Anything you say.

I'll call and tell you what to do with it.

Just get the money for me.
Don't ask why.

John Gregory, if I know you another years,
I'll still not understand you.

Why should
I suddenly leave town? Why?

Let's say you need a little vacation,
Mrs. Stone-- four or five weeks.

But I'm a nurse, on special call.

What if one of my doctors should
want me to take care of a patient?

They'll find another one.

I'll run you to the airport.

Or the Union Terminal,
if you'd sooner go by train.

Mr. Gregory, is something wrong?

Just go, Mrs. Stone, please!
And don't ask why.

Hey, what's all this? I thought
you kids would be at some rally.

Van? No speeches this evening?

Yes, sir, at the Armory.

But there was something
I thought I ought to tell you first.

I got a phone call a while ago
at campaign headquarters.

From a man who said
his name was Moray.

[Helen]
It was such a strange call.

Something about having knowledge
that would wreck Van's chances of election.

He said you'd know
what we meant if he told you.

He was kidding, baby.

He's a great one
for practical jokes, that Moray.

Clowning all the time.

I'll see to it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for relieving our minds, Daddy.
We were a little worried.

Helen, there's nothing I wouldn't do to
protect you and your happiness-- nothing!

- You know that.
- Well, of course, Daddy.

Darling? Hadn't we better be going?
You're due at : .

Good night, Mr. Gregory.

Stefan!

Did you got my telegram?
Make all the arrangements?

[laughing]

Don't be scared.

Nobody knows about us, or I'm here.

They're looking for me in Boston.

It won't work, Stefan.

Why not? You got the boats.

You put the two of us on one,
take us down to Mexico.

I've got contacts there.

I'll need some dough, forged passports,
plane fare to Switzerland.

- The two of you?
- Sure, me and my daughter. Who else?

- She knows she's going with me?
- Twenty years, not a word, not a letter--

How is she? What is she?

Now you want her to pack up and
run off to Switzerland with you.

- Why?
- You want me to draw pictures for you?

Why do you think? The trust fund.
The , bucks.

She don't sign for it,
I don't get it, that's why.

You set up that trust fund for her.

Oh, sure.
For some brat I never even saw.

One I didn't care two cents for.
I set it up for her, yeah.

She already got a , bucks.
Or you have, what's the difference?

The rest of that dough I always figured
as my own private nest egg.

For me-- Big Steve-- alone!

I wasn't sure,
but I'd have bet my life

that was exactly how you felt--
what you would say.

No, Stefan. Even if she were alive,
I wouldn't let her go with you.

You wouldn't y--

"Even if she were alive"?
What are you talking about?

Your daughter's dead.

You lie to me, I'll cut your heart out!

There was a mix-up
in the hospital records.

I didn't know about it till years later.

Your daughter's dead, Stefan-- dead!

You cheap, chiseling thief!

What about the money?
The money from the trust fund.

- What did you do with it?
- Held it, for you.

Ten years ago, the first hundred thousand,
I put it in a special account.

For you, for when you were released.
It's untouched.

What about the other grand?

With the kid dead,
how do I get it?

I've got everything you need.
Notarized statements, records, everything.

You'll give me a hundred grand in cash,

get me outta the country
on one of your boats,

fix me with papers so I can pick up
the other hundred grand myself?

- Yes, yes.
- When?

- I'll need a couple of days.
- No, no. It's too risky.

Tonight. I want it tonight!

[phone rings]

If that's the cops--

- Hello?
- This is Franz Moray, Mr. Gregory.

Hold on a minute, please.

Somebody's coming over, now.
You'd better get out of here.

Tonight. I want the money tonight.

All right. San Pedro Harbor.
The tuna clipper Helen G.

Near the oil dock. It'll be empty.

Meet me on board, in the galley, : .

Don't fool with me, I warn you.

: .

Moray? Listen, the money?

You can have it.

Tonight, sir, tonight!
$ , , cash!

Tonight. You know where we talked?

The dock? Our boat, the Helen Z?

There won't be anyone on board.

Meet me there at : .

The money? The papers?

- You'll get them. I promise.
- Promise?

- What are you pulling off here?
- Nothing, believe me!

I told you it would take time.
You've got to help me.

Now listen, here's what I figured--
if you'll stay here,

out of sight for a couple of days, I'll --

- I said tonight!
- Listen to reason.

Is there a reason?

[grunting]

What's going on here, Gregory?

Mr. Bickel, I-- I've got to talk to you.

Mr. Bickel. Wait!

Listen!

It's nothing, nothing at all.
Just one of my sailors.

Drunk. That's all, drunk.
I had to hit him.

You hit him, all right.
He's dead.

I'm sorry, Perry.
There's nothing I can tell you.

You don't seem to realize
the position you're in, John.

I didn't k*ll him.

What was he doing here?
What were you doing here?

This is one of my boats.
I've got a right to be here.

You know, John,

when a man
doesn't trust his attorney,

he ought to get another one.

What's that supposed to mean, Perry?

That I want the truth.

- Well, Lieutenant?
- Homicide, Perry.

All we have to find out now
is why he was k*lled.

Plus who he is,
what he was doing here--

and why Mr. Bickel just
happened along at so opportune a time.

Don't start hinting that I've got anything
to sweep under the rug.

I wanted to talk to Gregory,
but he wasn't home when I phoned him.

I knew that he had a habit of coming

to whichever of his boats happened
to be in port whenever he was upset.

Why should I be upset, Mr. Bickel?

Why not?

That man was trying
to extort money from you.

You know what you're saying?

Very much so, Mr. Mason.

I was curious when
he wanted me to extend that escrow.

And tonight, I received a telephone call
from someone who calls himself Moray.

He said he had information on Gregory
that could be disastrous.

He suggested I ask him about it.

Well, Lieutenant, if that doesn't suggest
extortion, then I don't know what--

Look here, Bickel--

Sorry, Mr. Gregory,
I'm afraid I'll have to take you in.

What's the charge, Lieutenant?

Suspicion of m*rder, Counselor.

I'll see you downtown, John.

According to his effects,
his name was Franz Moray,

formerly with the Boston office of
the Swiss Federated Bank of Zurich.

- Paul, I'd like you to--
- I know, be on the next plane to Boston.

No, I don't know why
my father went down to the harbor tonight.

I don't know anything...

except my father isn't a m*rder*r!

I'll go along with that, Mr. Mason.

In all my life, I've never met
a man less capable of k*lling.

And neither of you
ever heard of this Franz Moray?

No. Not until I got that crazy phone call
at my campaign headquarters.

Mr. Gregory shrugged it off
as a practical joke.

I'd say
it was anything but a joke.

Helen, do you know of
any business dealings your father had

with the Federated Swiss Bank of Zurich?

If he had, he never spoke of it.

I must know the truth about
his relationship to Moray.

If the man was a-- an extortionist,

I want to find out
what hold he had over your father.

Can you recall anything at all--

...any possible occurrence
in your father's life that

might furnish us with a lead?

No, nothing. My father never harmed
anyone in his life!

Except...

- Oh, that couldn't be.
- What couldn't be, Helen?

The automobile accident.

Back east in Boston, years ago.

I don't remember it,
I was only a few months old.

My mother and baby sister
were both k*lled.

Helen's told me about it.

You see, Mr. Gregory was driving,

but the accident wasn't his fault.

The other car ran into him, so there couldn't
possibly be any basis for extortion there.

Besides, Mr. Gregory's the one
who suffered, losing his wife and child.

I think the tragedy
still weighs on his mind,

the fact that they both died...

and we came out
without a scratch.

- We?
- Dad and myself.

And the nurse who was staying
with us, taking care of us.

Can you remember the nurse?

No, I don't remember her--

but there's a
picture of me in an album,

as a baby, in her lap.

The name underneath the picture...

Stone, that was it.

Mrs. Margaret Stone.

Operator, this is Paul Drake, Room .

I'd like to place a long distance call
to Los Angeles, please.

- [knocking at door]
- Come on in, it's open.

Yes. I'd like to speak person-to-person
to Perry Mason.

What about, Paul?

Perry, I went to the--

Never mind, operator. Thank you.

What are you doing here?
Hi, Beautiful.

How did you make out
at the Swiss bank office?

Oh, just fine. I talked
to a stuffed shirt named Corby

who wouldn't give me the time of day--

except that Franz Moray,
the dead man,

worked there
but retired over a month ago.

Well, we'll have
to see Mr. Corby again.

But before we do that, I...

want you to do
some ambulance chasing, Paul.

We're checking all the hospitals
near the waterfront.

The man's name was Gregory.

And when did this accident happen?

About twenty years ago.

If you don't mind waiting.

I think I have what you want
on that automobile accident.

It was a couple of months later
than you thought.

Thank you very much.

They were transferred to a private
ambulance and taken to the hospital.

This can't be the only clipping, Perry.
It doesn't say what hospital.

I know, Della,
but we can follow it up

in some other newspaper office.

- Well, Paul?
- Hi. Pay dirt!

I found the hospital where
the car-crash victims were taken,

and it turns out
to be the same hospital

where Gregory's daughter was born.

Here. Look at this maternity record.

Notice it lists the birth

of a primapera female infant,
Susan Gregory.

Susan? Susan-- but I thought--

Yeah, well, uh-- This is
the auto accident admittance record,

dated exactly two months later.

It lists the mother and baby Susan
as Dead on Arrival.

The survivors, Gregory the father,
a nurse named Mrs. Stone,

and a baby daughter,
Helen, three months old.

How could that be?
I mean if Susan was--

Exactly, Della.
If Susan was a firstborn infant,

then how could the Gregorys
have another child only a month older?

You think that might be necessary?

Yes, Mr. Corby.
I'll have to examine your records.

A man's life is at stake.
To defend him, I must know the facts.

The head office in Switzerland
would, I'm sure, be most disturbed

that the Boston records and personnel

should be introduced as evidence
into a Los Angeles court.

That wouldn't be necessary if I were
to be given the information I needed.

I suppose you're right.

I, uh, haven't the file here,

but I can probably answer your questions.

Susan was the name
of the Gregory's real daughter,

but of course you know that already.

Yes, she was the only child
the Gregorys had.

According to the records,

Helen was adopted as an infant
about the time Susan was born.

At least the adoption papers
were prepared and being processed.

And as you said before,
that trust fund--

that $ , trust fund was set up for
the adopted child by her real father.

The adoption was started
before Helen was born.

You see, the-the mother
didn't want the child.

Would you please give me
the name of the real father?

It's been in the headlines often enough

since he escaped
from the Senate committee.

Jahnchek,
Stefan "Big Steve" Jahnchek.

If I'd wanted you to know, Perry,
I'd have told you!

What actually happened the night
of your automobile accident, John?

Ah, there was a mix-up
in the hospital admittance records.

Somebody made a mistake.

The death certificate was made out
in my daughter's name, Susan.

But it was really Stefan's child, Helen,
who was k*lled.

You knew all this,

yet you didn't make
any attempt to correct it?

I didn't know.
Not right away.

When I learned about
the truth of the mix-up, two years later,

I corrected it.

Except for the name.
I didn't that was important.

But you didn't correct that mix-up

with the Swiss bank
that handled Helen's trust fund?

Now, as trustee--

knowing your own daughter, Susan,

had no legal right to that trust fund--

you still accepted the first installment
of $ , .

Perry, that money hasn't been touched.
Not a cent of it!

Whom did you fight aboard the clipper?

Nobody. Nobody,
I-I just had too much to drink.

I fell down, I got messed up.

You told Bickel you fought
with a sailor.

No, I just made that up
about the sailor.

I didn't know what I was saying.

Why? Because you had just
left Moray dead on the galley floor?

No. I never saw Moray!
He wasn't due on board till--

You did have an appointment with him.
To pay extortion money!

I didn't k*ll Moray.

You started adoption proceedings
before Helen was born,

and that was a month
before your own daughter was born.

Now, why would a gangster like Jahnchek
ask you to adopt his baby?

Because he and I--

Look, Perry, years ago in Boston,

Stefan was a waterfront hoodlum.

He smeared dirt
on the name of Jahnchek.

Such dirt that it made me ashamed.

I changed my name

from Gregor Jahnchek to John Gregory.

Stefan is my brother.

I only wish I could help you, Mr. Mason.
But I don't know anything.

Not about the m*rder, perhaps,

but there are other areas
where you might be of assistance.

The matter of Mr. Gregory's
real name, for example.

Okay, Mr. Mason,
for whatever good it does.

I knew John Gregory
when he was Gregor Jahnchek.

He's been my closest friend.

There's nothing he wouldn't do for me,
and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him.

Does that include
hiding his brother from the police?

You think I've got Big Steve aboard this tub?
You're dreaming. You must be.

What better place
for a wanted man to take cover?

The scene of a m*rder
when the police have come and gone?

You're wrong, Mr. Mason.
Absolutely wrong.

Jahnchek is not on this boat.

Then you will have no objection
to my going aboard and looking around.

You're just like my brother,
a double-crosser.

That's a lie, and you know that, Steve.

- He's never double-crossed you in his life.
- He's been doing it for years!

I gave him my kid to adopt.
I set up a trust fund for her.

Then when she gets k*lled
in an accident,

he puts his kid in her place
so he can collect the money.

You make it sound
like he was crooked.

I'll give you something else
to worry about.

That Moray guy.

He must have known about the automobile
accident and the switching of the kids.

He must have used it to put
the squeeze on my dear brother.

Jahnchek, you say
those things in court,

you'll send your brother
to the gas chamber.

You are so right!

I'll send him
straight to the gas chamber.

Now, Doctor, can you tell us, please,
the condition of the decedent's body?

Yes, sir. There were bruises and
scratches on the face of the decedent.

I would say he had been engaged
in a struggle before he was k*lled.

And what was the cause of death?

Composite occipital fractures...

inflicted by several heavy blows
with a blunt instrument

on the head of the victim.

I show you this wrench, Doctor,
People's Exhibit One.

I ask you if it could be the blunt instrument
which inflicted those heavy blows?

This, or something very much like it, yes.

When we arrested the defendant,
John Gregory,

his clothing was disheveled,
and he was bruised and marked up--

as though he had just been in a fight.

I see. Lieutenant Anderson,
I show you this wrench.

People's Exhibit One.

I ask you
if you've ever seen it before.

Yes, sir. It has my mark on it.

We found it on the galley floor,
near the body.

And did you have this wrench subjected to
laboratory analysis, Lieutenant Anderson?

It was looked over carefully
by the lab.

There were many sets of smudged
and obliterated fingerprints,

and over them, on the handle,
one clear set.

- And whose fingerprints were these?
- The defendant's. John Gregory's.

Thank you, Lieutenant Anderson.
That will be all, sir.

Yours, Mr. Mason.

Uh, Lieutenant Anderson,

where on board the clipper Helen G.
were the wrenches kept?

In a rack in the machine shop,
adjacent to the galley.

Was there a wrench
missing from this rack?

Yes, sir, there was.

Just one, Lieutenant?

No, sir, there were two wrenches missing.

Did you look for the other one?

- We looked.
- Did you find it?

No, sir.

No further questions.

Oh, by the way, Captain Paolo,
you are aware, are you not,

that charges are being brought
against you for harboring a fugitive?

Okay, okay.
So I admit it. Okay?

Sure I knew Steve Jahnchek.

I knew he was my boss's brother, and
I let him hide out on the boat. Okay?

As your boss's
close and accommodating friend,

were you aware of the meeting
between the decedent and John Gregory

the night of the m*rder
on board your boat?

The first I knew of that was when
the police got me out of bed at home

and brought me down
to the boat in the middle of the night.

Your landlady is ready to testify
that you received a phone call

late that afternoon
from John Gregory.

- Do you deny that?
- No.

And you immediately thereafter
went down to the docks

and ordered the shore watch
of the Helen G. off the boat,

explaining that
the owner had insisted

that he wanted no one
aboard the boat that night.

Do you deny that?

No.

I wish I could.

And when Helen--
Miss Gregory and I--

left the house
and went out to my car,

she discovered she had left
her gloves in the house.

I went back in to get them.

And what happened
when you returned to the house?

I saw a man.

I didn't see his face,
so I couldn't recognize him.

But I saw this man leaving
by the back way.

Mm-hmm.

And as I started past the study,

I saw Mr. Gregory--
the defendant-- inside.

And was he alone?

Yes.

He was speaking on the telephone.

He was telling someone to meet him
at : at San Pedro Harbor.

Did the defendant address the person

to whom he was speaking
on the telephone by name?

He called him Mr. Moray.

Moray, on the phone,
intimated rather than stated

that he could make trouble for Gregory
because of certain information he had.

And Moray suggested that if

I wanted to protect
our business deal,

that I should urge Gregory to be--

I think the word he used
was "cooperative."

Yes, I think that explains it, Mr. Bickel.

You were worried about
your merger deal with the defendant.

And you became more worried

as a result of this strange phone call
from Moray-- isn't that correct?

I tried to get Gregory at home,
a few times.

As I told the Lieutenant,
I knew that whenever Gregory was worried,

he always went to one of his ships.

and I went looking for him
down at the docks.

- It's all perfectly legitimate!
- Of course it is, Mr. Bickel.

You don't have to worry, sir.
You're not on trial here.

Well, I should hope not!

Now, after you discovered
the body of the decedent,

did John Gregory
make a statement to you?

Oh, he rambled on with some
nonsense about a drunken sailor.

And then he said, and I remember
his words exactly,

then he said, "I hit him."

- Any luck?
- Nope.

And I had a small army
looking for her.

Mrs. Stone is either dead
or out of the country.

Is she that important, Perry?

I have a feeling she's very important.

An elderly nurse
who was involved

in an accident
almost twenty years ago.

What can she tell you?

What my stubborn client
has refused to tell me.

Speaking of clients,

Bickel's story certainly
didn't do John Gregory any good.

He sounded almost
as if he hated him.

Or stood to gain financially.

Can he?

Aside from the escrow,

Gregory sank most of his capital
into those fishing boats

on lease-purchase
to meet the merger terms.

You know, I think we ought to look into
that lease-purchase transaction, Paul.

Find out if Bickel's involved.

I'll get a man right on it.

Gertie, this is Paul,
can you ring my office, please?

Cele, is Jack Farnham there?
I want--

He has? All right, let's have it.

Okay, Cele, thanks.

Well, no wonder we couldn't
find the missing nurse, Mrs. Stone.

Burger's had her on ice for days.

He plans to spring her
in court tomorrow

as a prosecution surprise witness.

Mrs. Stone,
approximately years ago,

you were involved
in an automobile accident in Boston.

Do you remember that?

Well, it started out
a pretty happy day as I remember.

You see, Mr. Gregory was coming home
after three months at sea,

and they were
going to meet him at the dock.

They, Mrs. Stone?

Mrs. Gregory, of course,
their infant daughter, Susan,

and the infant child
they had adopted, Helen.

Now, Helen was a month older
than Susan, I believe.

I say "believe," Mr. Burger,
because I didn't know.

You see, I was hired
by Mrs. Gregory that very morning.

Mrs. Stone, Let's get this very clear.

When he stepped off his ship
twenty years ago,

John Gregory had never seen
his own daughter,

or his adopted daughter?

No, sir, he hadn't.

Now, what happened, Mrs. Stone,

after you picked John Gregory
up at the dock?

Mr. Gregory was
driving home when--

when we had the accident.

Mrs. Gregory and
one of the children were k*lled.

The other child and I
were not injured.

But you all went to the hospital?

Yes. With-With Mr. Gregory unconscious,

I had to make the identifications.

I'm afraid, Mr. Burger,
it was then I made my mistake.

I improperly identified

the dead infant and the live one.

Helen, not Susan, had been k*lled.

Why, I really wasn't
sure of it myself.

Until two years later.

And what happened
two years later?

Mr. Gregory was moving
from Boston out here to California.

I couldn't leave with them,
but before they left,

I told Mr. Gregory of my doubts.

Of the remote possibility

that the surviving child
was really his own daughter.

Then, of course,
he took some sort of steps

to check out
the true identities of the girls.

And what did he find out?

Susan, his daughter, was alive.

Helen, his adopted child,
had been k*lled.

Before Mr. Gregory went to California,

he had me swear out
some notarized statements

and things, corroborating her identity.

And did you keep in touch
with the Gregorys after that?

No, I didn't.

It wasn't until five years ago

when I came out here myself
on a sort of semi-retired basis,

that I looked Mr. Gregory up.

My appearing seemed
to bother him a great deal.

So much so he paid me $ ,

if I promised never to see him
or his daughter again.

Acting as trustee for Helen Gregory,

the defendant accepted $ ,
on the occasion of her th birthday.

When he had you sign those statements
years ago,

did John Gregory say to you

that among the records
he had to set straight

was the matter of a $ , trust fund

which his daughter Susan
was not entitled to receive?

Why, no.

I never knew anything
about a trust fund.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Stone.

Counselor.

Your Honor, I would like
to request

that you adjourn these proceedings

and grant a brief conference
in chambers.

You can't go on with it, John.

Every step you've made
gives it away.

You call the girl who lives with you "Helen"
because that's really her name.

There was no baby mix-up
after your automobile accident.

That it really was your child
that was k*lled.

That Helen is your adopted daughter.

No, Perry. No, you mustn't say that.

Why mustn't he, if it's true?

Oh, the bereaved father!

Your heart bleeds, doesn't it,
brother Stefan?

You never wanted her,
you never cared for her!

All she ever meant to you was a gimmick.

a clever way to bury money
you could get your hands on

when they let you out of jail.

I'm going to see you fry!

Now, Jahnchek, that's enough.

Mr. Mason, I permitted this
highly unorthodox hearing in chambers

on your assurances
it would help solve the case.

But if the record's going to show
nothing more

than a vituperative
exchange of insults,

I shall deem none of it in evidence,
strike it all from the record,

and reconvene back in the courtroom.

If Your Honor will just be
patient for a moment,

I believe we can get at the truth.

John, why this deception over identities?

Was it because you wanted
to get the money

and still claim Helen
as your daughter?

I love that girl
more than anything in the world.

Too much to let her be hurt,

knowing her real father
is a gangster, a criminal.

And the $ , from the trust fund.

You put it aside for her,
in a special account.

I also know that you borrowed against it,

as against all your assets,

in order to close that cannery merger.

You were lying when you told me
you'd give me that money?

- You were lying?
- No, no. You don't understand.

There were two accounts.

I couldn't rob Helen of the money
you set up for her.

The special account in her name
is my money--

money I've saved over the years,
to match what you left her.

Well, what happened to my money?

That was the second account,
the one Paolo kept for me.

Your money, Stefan, untouched.

He was to leave it for me on the boat.

There was Moray--
he wanted the money.

You wanted the money.

I didn't know that to do.

I thought you would help, would wait!

Your Honor, I--
I fail to see the purpose of all this.

It really doesn't have
anything to do with the m*rder.

Even if this man did rig himself

into this impossible situation
for the sake of the girl,

we're still faced with the fact
that the situation led to an extortion,

and the extortion led to a m*rder.

Judge, I'm willing to plead guilty.

Well, I find your offer
quite paradoxical, Mr. Gregory.

In order to keep your adopted daughter
from learning

that her true father
is a convicted felon,

you're willing to expose yourself
to a possible m*rder conviction.

Wouldn't that have
the same effect upon her future?

Maybe, I don't know.

You see, my fine brother there
is quite a guy.

His wife didn't die
when Helen was born,

for the simple reason
she wasn't his wife.

He hadn't even bothered to marry her.

Neither of them wanted the child.

The least I could do
was to give her a home,

where she was wanted,

and a name that was not only clean,
but legally hers.

Will everybody please rise?

Mr. Mason, I believe we recessed

before you had an opportunity
to cross-examine Mrs. Stone.

I have no questions of Mrs. Stone,
Your Honor.

Very well. Mr. Burger,
you may call your next witness.

If it please the court.

To anticipate Mr. Mason,

and to make abundantly clear
for the record

exactly how the District Attorney's office
feels on this matter,

let me state now that it is
with extreme distaste and reluctance

that the State finds it necessary
to call as its final witness

a notorious, convicted felon,

now serving time
in a federal penitentiary.

I call Stefan Jahnchek
to the stand.

Yeah, that's the statement
I gave to the cops.

So what? It's not true.

Not true? Don't you try
to play games with me, Jahnchek!

It's not true that you thought
your brother lied to you,

and double-crossed you?

It's not true that you wanted $ ,
you thought he stole from you?

- Those things are not true?
- No.

I asked him for enough cash
to get out of the country, that's all.

You expect me to believe
a story like that?

A fantastic story like that?

Why, just a few minutes ago,
in the Judge's chambers, you said that--

That's enough! I told you the truth.

Mr. Jahnchek, do you know
what the penalty for perjury is?

Yeah. They send you to jail, don't they?

No further questions.

What time,
on the night of the m*rder,

did you go aboard the tuna clipper?

No time on the night of the m*rder.

I went down there the next morning,
after the cops had left.

A little after : that night,

the man was seen
in a Gregory company power launch

drifting from the oiling dock

to another dock some distance away.

Now, he tied the launch there
and went ashore.

I can produce a witness
to swear to that fact.

Shall we call that witness now,

and ask him if
you were the man in that launch?

All right, so I went down
to the waterfront.

But I no sooner got aboard the clipper

when I heard someone
coming along the dock.

I was scared, so I scrammed.

You were scared because
someone was coming?

Yet you had gone there
for the express purpose

of collecting $ ,
from your brother?

All right, all right. So I was there.

At a quarter to : . Satisfied?

John Gregory was marked up
from a fight.

It wasn't a fight with Moray,
it was a fight with you, was it not?

Yeah. I tried to hit him with the wrench.

But he knocked it out of my hand
and we wrestled.

Then he got hold of it,
and hit me with it.

But I wasn't out, see?
Just stunned when he went up on the deck.

Then you heard Bickel
shouting to your brother?

Well, how'd I know some cop
hadn't come along?

I couldn't go back on the dock,
so I went to the other side.

And I saw this motor boat
tied up at the clipper --

Just a minute.

Are you saying that
that motor launch

just happened to be
tied up alongside the clipper?

Sure. How else would it be there?

Because it was left there
by the man who planned to use it

to get to the boat and to leave the boat
without being seen.

Nah. I saw the launch. I took it.

But I didn't bring it there,
I don't know where it come from.

Your Honor, if I'm allowed
to recall a witness,

I think we might determine the truth
about this motor launch.

Your Honor, this motor launch
has nothing to do with the issue.

I must protest.

I believe the use of the motor launch

by Stefan Jahnchek

is the key to the entire m*rder,
Your Honor.

Very well. You may recall your witness.

Captain Paolo, when not in use,

the motor launch is
kept at the marina?

Yes, always.

Mr. Jahnchek stated that

he called you for permission
to hide aboard the clipper.

Now, may I take this to mean
that you gave him permission?

- Yes.
- Did you tell him he could take

the power launch from the marina
and bring it to the clipper?

Absolutely not!

You have heard testimony that
the decedent, Franz Moray,

made phone calls to many
of Mr. Gregory's friends and associates

in an effort to exert greater pressure
for his planned extortion.

Now, did Moray ever phone you?

Did he, Captain?

Why, yes.

Then you knew about Moray.

And you knew that Mr. Gregory
was meeting someone

at : that night on the tuna boat,

and you correctly guessed that it was Moray?

Did you not then phone Moray

and tell him to be there earlier than ten?

At : , say? Or nine : ?

No! Why should I?

Did you bring the motor launch
alongside the clipper...

so you could get away
without being seen?

Me? What is this, Mr. Mason?

You're talking about a k*ller.

I'm Gregory's best friend.

Would I commit a m*rder
and then let him take the blame?

You may not have meant to,

but when Jahnchek and Gregory
unexpectedly arrived and had the fight,

you had already k*lled Moray
with that wrench, that is still missing.

And you were hiding with the body
of the man you had k*lled,

in the machine shop,
right next to the galley.

You're crazy!

Jahnchek panicked
and took away the launch,

so you had no alternative but to leave
your victim's body in the galley,

slip off the stern of the boat
in the shadows and hurry home.

How wrong can you get?

I work like a sl*ve
to keep that outfit going for John.

For yourself, Captain,
not for John Gregory.

My investigator has discovered
that it was you,

acting through a dummy corporation,

who furnished the defendant
with ten tuna boats

on a lease-purchase agreement.

Okay. Okay, so Gregory
pays for those boats,

and I make a profit! Is that illegal?

This trust fund, which you kept
in a special account

under your own name--

Isn't that why you had to get Moray
out of the way?

Because Gregory had asked you
for that money to pay off Moray?

Asked you to bring it to the boat
that night?

But you couldn't, could you?

You'd already used that money
to get control of the ten tuna boats.

Captain?

Why not?

Why not?

Why should I be the skipper of
one lousy tuna boat while he got rich?

Sure. Sure, I used the money
to tie up the boats.

If that cannery deal went through,

John would pay plenty
to get those boats.

I could put the money back
and still make a fortune.

And then came the extortionist,
and Gregory wanted the money.

And the money that wasn't there.

I--

I only meant to...

knock Moray out, and--

and ferry him to a freighter.

I was going to have him

kept on one of
the southbound tuna boats.

I never, never figured to k*ll him.

I never meant to k*ll him.
You must believe that.

But I--

I hit him too hard!

I hit him too hard!

[sobbing]
I hit him too hard!

- Congratulations.
- I'll see you later.

Right.

Well, was it worth it, John?

What do you think, Perry?

Stefan?

In the Judge's chambers,
you said you'd see me ex*cuted.

But on the witness stand,
you deliberately lied.

- Why?
- Wise up. I gotta be nice.

You're still holdin'
my , bucks, brother.