All language subtitles for Perry Mason S05E01 The Case of the Jealous Journalist.DVDRip.NonHI.cc.en.CBS

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The Adam York party,
now three days overdue,

must have been caught
in the sudden flash floods

that turned rivers
into raging torrents.

Little or no hope is held
that any of the three men

in the fishing party could
have survived the rapids

in the desolate north country.

Canadian authorities
have organized

ground search parties,

while Royal Canadian and
American Air Force helicopters

are combing the area.

We will bring you

further developments
as we get them.

The three missing fishermen
are now five days overdue,

and at nightfall,
authorities have announced,

they will recall
the search parties.

An anxious world has
all but given up hope

that the three
men are still alive.

With their death, an
era of journalistic history

will have come to a close.

Adam York... The
legendary Adam York...

Was the last of the
crusading newspaper tycoons.

The world-famous publisher
was accompanied on his fishing trip

by his younger
brother, Prentiss York,

and by the managing editor
of Adam York's newspaper,

the Los Angeles
Chronicle, Mr. Tilden Stuart.

♪ ♪

Hey, men!

Over here!

Mr. Stuart...

It's Mr. Stuart.

Mr. Stuart, where
are the others?

Where's Adam York?

Where's his brother?

Dead.

They're all dead.

♪ ♪

Slug it slay.

Tell them to box it on page one.

"Slums breed another murder.

More Violence in Derrick Flats."

And I'll tie that in
with the lead editorial.

Yes?

Just a minute.

Boyd Alison to see you.

Boyd Alison?

Your uncle didn't like him.

Said he was a business maverick

with the ethics
of a rattlesnake.

Well, as long as we have
a snakebite kit handy,

you send him in, Miriam.

Tell Mr. Alison to
come in, please.

Well... you're sitting
in a big man's chair.

I don't need you or anyone
else to tell me I can't fill it.

What is it you want,

Alison?

Do you intend to continue
Adam York's annexation fight

at Derrick Flats?

Yes, I do.

Adam York is dead.

Where the Chronicle
is concerned,

his ideas are still
very much alive.

You look a little
like your uncle.

You even sound a bit like him.

I wonder how big you'll talk
when the Chronicle is bankrupt.

Mind if I sit down?

Your, uh, advertising
volume is way off.

Your circulation has
hit a ten-year low.

You don't have enough cash
to meet this week's payroll,

and there isn't a bank in
town that'll lend you a red cent.

Do you, uh...

do you also know what I
had for breakfast this morning?

The city's annexation
election is 60 days off.

I figure it'll take, oh,
half a million dollars

to see the paper
through till then,

assuming a pickup in
circulation and advertising both.

If half a million dollars
were available to you,

what security would
you give for such a loan?

The paper itself, I suppose.

There isn't anything else.

Yes, but you don't
own the paper.

Adam York's will is
being read this afternoon.

From what my
uncle always told me,

I believe my mother and I
will inherit a large part of it,

probably half.

And the other half?

Go to my aunt and her family,

Mr. and Mrs. Seward
Quentin and their son, Ralph.

Oh. Would they pool
their stock for security?

No.

The Quentin's only interest
in the Chronicle is to sell it

at the highest price.

And that isn't your interest?

Mr. Alison, I don't
particularly enjoy

playing verbal
checkers with you.

Now, if there's something
you have to say, that's fine.

If not, I have work to do.

I'll lend you half
a million dollars

for 60 days, without interest,

with just yours and your
mother's stock as security.

Well, Mr. Alison, I...

Save it.

Your uncle didn't like me any
more than you do, obviously,

but he was a fighting man,

and I liked and respected him.

I think you're a lot like him.

My lawyers will be in
touch with you shortly.

And good luck.

Snakebite antitoxin or a good,
stiff drink, what'll you have?

Anybody looks for me, I'll
be in Kerry Worden's office.

Everything seems
to be all right.

Okay, now, nice and bright.

Snap it, Charlie.

That wraps it up, girls.

Mark a set of proofs for
the fashion department.

I'd like to check
'em this afternoon.

Oh, Ralph.

I just can't have lunch today.

I'm much too busy.

All right. All right.

Cousin.

Kerry... it worked like a dream.

Money... I can get
ahold of enough money

to keep the paper going.

It's the answer to everything...

The annexation fight,

all the things Adam
would have wanted.

I'll tell you all
about it tonight.

We do have a dinner date?

8:00. Joe...

I was in Perry Mason's
office this morning.

I know you're going there this
afternoon about Adam's will.

I was there this morning
to see about another will.

Prentiss?

He was a strange man,

my stepfather.

He was always busy,

busy with the paper,

busy fighting Adam's fights,

and yet, not so busy to
leave me everything he had.

Ah, it wasn't much.

He didn't have much.

But that he should
think about me,

that he should be
concerned about me...

Kerry Worden.

It's Miriam.

There's an attorney named
Bradshaw waiting for you.

Miriam says he
represents a Boyd Alison.

Whew! Mr. Alison wastes no time.

Tell her I'm on my way.

And I'll see you at 8:00.

He's on his way up now.

And, Joe...

good luck at Mason's office.

There are 100
outstanding shares of stock

in the Chronicle corporation.

Adam York owned all the shares.

"To, uh, Tilden
Stuart, devoted friend

"and respected coworker,
I bequeath ten shares,

"his shares to be nonvoting.

"To the surviving members
of my immediate family,

"to my only brother,
Prentiss York,

"to my sister,
Hope York Quentin,

"to her son, Ralph Quentin,

"to my younger sister,
Grace York Davies,

"to her son, Joseph Davies,

"to each of these five
members of my family,

"I bequeath 18 shares.

"If any of the five
members of my family

"fail to survive me,
his or her shares

shall be divided equally
among the remaining survivors."

Now, since Prentiss York died
in the river accident with Adam,

his 18 shares are to be
divided, uh, accordingly

among the four
remaining survivors.

So you mean ownership
of the Chronicle

is to be divided equally
between my sister and her son

on the one hand,
and me and my son

on the other.

That is correct, Mrs. Quentin.

Well, what happens if
my sister and her son

decide they want to
continue operating the paper

while my son and I
decide we want to sell?

Is that what I wish to do?

Shut up.

Yes, Father.

Adam York's stock is
assigned to a trust corporation.

To avoid any gap in the, uh,
operation of the newspaper,

the management of the trust
is vested in me during probate,

with the stock

to be voted in accordance
with the instructions

of those who receive
it as set up in the will.

That doesn't solve anything...
There's still a 50/50 split

where control of the
paper is concerned!

There's an added
provision in the will

that the voting rights
in Tilden Stuart's

ten shares of stock be
assigned to Joseph Davies,

that Joseph Davies be named
publisher of the newspaper.

That gives you and your
son complete control.

If that boy runs the paper,
I wouldn't give it 30 days.

Say, Mr. Mason,

there's something puzzling me.

Uncle Prentiss had a wife.

She's dead, but there
was a stepdaughter.

How come she doesn't
pick up the 18 shares?

Under the law,

since Prentiss York did
not survive his brother,

neither he nor his
heirs are eligible

to inherit from Adam York.

Uh, excuse me, Perry.

But that's what I
came in to tell you.

I'm afraid what you
just said isn't so.

The applicable law is

the Uniform
Simultaneous Death Act,

section 296 of the
Probate Code, Paul.

It's not the law I'm talking
about, Perry, it's the facts.

Prentiss York did survive Adam.

They just found
Prentiss York's body.

Mr. Stuart here

didn't find Prentiss
at the same time

he found Adam at
the shore of the river,

because Prentiss, even
though he had a broken leg,

managed to drag himself more
than two miles away from the river.

He also managed to light a fire

in the heavy timber country.

But he died.

And he must have
survived his brother

by at least a day.

This wire from the
Canadian authorities

confirms what
Mr. Drake just said.

In the light of
this information,

the 18 shares of stock
willed to Prentiss York

now become the
property of his legal heir,

Miss Kerry Worden.

Good evening, Kerry.

Seward.

May I come in?

Please do.

Thank you.

An interesting situation.

Joe and his mother
foolishly wanting

to continue on with the paper.

Ralph and his
mother wanting to sell.

Neither of the opposing
groups able to have its own way.

And now you enter the picture.

My 18 shares seem to represent

the balance of
power, so to speak.

Kerry, I won't waste
a lot of your time,

but I would like to
ask you one question.

Exactly how much is love worth?

That's not a question.

That sounds like an opening
gambit to a proposition.

If you marry Joe Davies,

it could cost you a
half million dollars.

If I vote my stocks with him.

Could you marry him
and not vote with him?

Joe's an impractical dreamer...

Just like Adam.

In one month that
paper will be bankrupt,

if it isn't already.

Well, a coin usually
has two sides to it.

There's a bona fide offer

of two and a half
million for the paper.

One fifth of that, your share,

would be worth
one-half million dollars.

I really don't want to bother
thinking about it right now.

I have a dinner date
with Joe in about an hour.

Well, maybe you should
bother thinking about it

long enough to break that date.

Somehow you strike
me as being a girl

who is very good at arithmetic.

I'm afraid my arithmetic
is a little better than yours.

If I marry Joe...
Zero for everybody.

If I vote my stock against him,

there's a million for
your wife and son,

but only a half million for me.

Seems my decision
is just as important

to the Quentins as it is to me.

Twice as important.

Well, my dear, perhaps it
shouldn't be twice as important.

Tell me something...

When do you announce
this engagement of yours?

You'll be getting
an invitation soon.

Dear Mother Grace Davies
is giving the engagement party

at the Fairmount Club
a week from Saturday.

That's plenty of time to
add, subtract or divide.

I announce with pride and all
my love and warmest good wishes,

the engagement of my son Joseph

to Miss Kerry Worden.

Just a moment, Aunt Grace.

You're almost right... almost.

Well, this is an
engagement party,

but the trouble is,

Kerry isn't getting
engaged to Joe.

She's announcing her
engagement to me right now.

Well, since this seems
to be a propitious moment

for exploding bombs, I
may as well inform you

that on behalf of my wife

and my son, I'm requesting

a stockholder's meeting tomorrow

for the purpose of approving

the sale of the Chronicle.

Take it easy, Joe.

You keep out of my sight.

If I ever get my hands
on you, I'll kill you.

Tilden, will you take
me home, please?

Isn't the groom-to-be
going to kiss the bride-to-be?

Another double and
keep 'em coming.

Yes, sir.

That's not going to
solve your problem.

No problem left to solve.

Adam lost, I lost...

And you lost, Alison.

The paper's being sold tomorrow.

And there's nothing
you can do about it, huh?

Short of murdering
a two-timing witch

by the name of Kerry
Worden, no nothing.

You have any ideas?

Here, give him a bottle.

Adam York was a fighter.

I never saw him wallowing
in self-pity or drunk.

I was wrong about you.

Kerry, it's me... Joe!

Open up, you hear me?!

♪ ♪

Kerry.

She's... she's dead.

She's dead.

All right.

I'll look into the
Boyd Alison loan...

See where you stand.

I keep thinking,
thinking about last night.

Trying to remember.

Something keeps
nagging at my memory.

What prompted you
to go to her apartment?

Anger?

Jealousy?

Funny... that's one
thing I do remember.

I guess I was
still boiling mad...

But I wasn't jealous.

I-I was almost...

Relieved about not marrying her.

Maybe that's what I
wanted to say to her.

It's worth losing the paper
to be saved from her in time.

Was it worth it?

No, not really.

That would have been
a betrayal of Adam.

Nothing was worth that.

All right, I'll, uh, I'll
be back tomorrow.

In the meantime, if there's
something you want or need,

just ask them to give me a call.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

What is it?

I remember now... it was a call.

That's it, I got
a call at the bar.

I remember.

I had no reason to kill Kerry.

Who called you?

She did. Kerry called
me at the bar in the club.

She told me it was
going to be all right.

She wasn't going to vote
her shares with the Quentins.

If Joe Davies wasn't dreaming,
and Kerry Worden did call,

we'll need corroboration.

Check the Fairmount Club.

Also the switchboard

in Kerry Worden's
apartment building.

It might be highly
interesting to know

if she called someone
else that night.

Mm-hmm. As well as who
might have called her and when.

One more thing.

This Derrick Flats
annexation business...

Put some men on it.

Find out what's involved.

Do you think the
Chronicle's involvement

in the annexation election

might have something
to do with the murder?

The key to the murder
must lie in the efforts

to gain control
of the newspaper.

Paul, I want that
information... Fast.

"And, Paul, don't
spare the expenses.

"If somebody has to pay

"for Paul Drake's
expensive tastes,

it might as well
be Perry Mason."

Della.

Mm-hmm.

Send a rush telegram

to each of the stockholders
of the Chronicle.

Include Boyd
Alison in that group.

A telegram informing them
that as voting trustee of the stock,

I'm calling an urgent
meeting at 8:00 tonight

in the Chronicle offices.

Prepare a power of
attorney for Joseph Davies,

naming me his proxy
to vote his shares.

I'll want you to get
his signature on it later.

I'll have it ready
in 15 minutes.

Oh, Della.

Yes, Perry?

The wire about the
meeting tonight...

Send a copy of it to
the district attorney.

To Hamilton Burger?

Mm-hmm.

And please, make it
five minutes, not 15.

Mrs. Davies and Tilden
Stuart are waiting for us

at the Chronicle building.

This unincorporated
strip of county here,

made up of abandoned,
worked-out oil fields...

Old derricks still standing...

Is what is known
as Derrick Flats.

It's a dirty shantytown.

In water, sanitary
conditions, fire hazards,

the whole area is substandard.

It's an ugly, dangerous eyesore.

The Chronicle
supports annexation.

The election will decide
whether the Flats are annexed

and become part of the city.

And the slums condemned

and new and decent
housing facilities erected.

In addition to a huge new
boat marina right there.

Mr. Stuart, that bond issue,

does it also include
the cost of the marina?

No, the funds for the marina
have already been voted.

If the vote is no
on the annexation,

does that mean
there'll be no marina?

Oh, no, there's still...

Sorry.

Go ahead, Miss Coffey.

Well, you see, the city
had previously optioned

another area for the marina,

before they picked the
Derrick Flats section.

They could go back
to that first area.

Somebody wins, somebody loses.

Either way, I have
a strange feeling

there's an awful lot
of money involved.

Obviously enough
money to motivate murder.

Not Joe...

I mean Mr. Davies.

He couldn't murder anybody.

On that, we agree, Miss Coffey.

Well, now I think this does it.

Please, Mr. Mason, is
there anything I can do?

Anything?

As a matter of fact, there is.

Della, do you have
that power of attorney?

Mm-hmm.

Miss Street and I have
a conference coming up,

so if you'd be kind enough to
get Mr. Davies to sign these,

I'd appreciate it.

I'll take care of it right away.

Thank you for all your help.

We'll see you tonight at 8:00.

Don, I know I had you
on another assignment,

but this is important.

I'd go myself, but
the switchboard girl

at the Worden apartments
knows me by sight.

Is there a good-looking
girl in Los Angeles

that doesn't know you by sight?

A couple.

Anyway, I sort of stood
her up on a date one night

after I got some information
from her on a divorce case.

So, you are going to
have to do it for me.

Okay, so I have
to do it for you.

Now tell me how.

How? You're asking me how?

Look, buster, that's
what I'm paying you for,

and I'll be waiting
for your call.

Okay, boss.

Beat it.

Hello.

Yes?

Butler 2-1-5-1-8?

Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you.

You mean that's really
going to be in the Chronicle?

That photograph of me?

Yes, front page spread.

Hey, hey, I forgot.

The new city
editor's on today...

A real tough baby.

Won't print pictures

unless there's a good
story to hook 'em to.

Well, you're a
reporter, aren't you?

So think of something.

I got it!

We do a piece on the
calls that went in and out

of the dead girl's
apartment that night.

Nothing to it.

Oh, gee, I don't
know about that.

The cops wouldn't like it.

Well, that's it.

No sense wasting
more pics for nothing.

Sir.

Well, look, the cops
couldn't say anything

if you was to accidentally

get a look at my
call record book.

Hmm, now could they?

Bonnie Mae, you're a dream.

All right, big smile.

Big smile again.

Oh, it's you.

Well, now, there's a
sparkling quotation.

Like, "What happened?"

or "What am I doing here?"

Really, Joe.

I'm sorry, Miriam.

They said Mr. Mason's
secretary was here

with some papers to sign.

Where do I do it?

Here, here and here.

Disappointed?

Well, Mr. Mason said that
I could come here if I liked,

instead of his secretary.

She's very
attractive, Miss Street.

So was Kerry Worden.

Remember?

Signed, sealed and delivered.

Joe, would you really
have married her?

Kerry?

Why do you ask?

Oh, just curious, I suppose.

Oh, who knows for sure?

I... I honestly don't think
I-I could have married her.

Or that I ever loved her.

Any more than she
could ever have married

or loved Ralph Quentin.

Oh, maybe the two of
them deserved each other.

Kerry and Ralph.

Well, there's a match that
wasn't made in heaven.

Are any of them, Miriam?

I think so, Joe.

Miriam...

I-I better be going now, Joe.

Good luck.

You just can't get enough
of that stuff, can you?

I like it.

You like it.

I'm sure you do.

Hope, can't we stop this
constant bickering, please?

Please?

Please me no pleases.

It's too late for that now.

The two-and-a-half-million-
dollar offer to buy the paper

has been withdrawn.

Thanks to you and your son.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mr. Mason.

Uh, may I suggest
that the stockholders

sit around the table?

Uh, if you will, Mr. Alison.

Ms. Coffey, would
you please take notes?

Since the arrest of
Joe Davies for murder,

we're faced with
the problem of policy

and continuing
management of the Chronicle.

The problem of
continuing or selling.

I understood you to say the
offer to buy had been withdrawn.

A matter of temporary
misunderstanding.

I can assure you,
there will be no difficulty

in reactivating the offer

and for the two-and-a-half
million-dollar figure.

Selling the paper's
out of the question.

The answer was
no before, it's still no,

it will continue to be no.

At least for the balance
of the 60 days involved

in the loan to the paper

from Mr. Alison.

Loan?

Boyd Alison?

Yes.

A half million
dollars for 60 days,

secured by my shares
and Joseph's shares.

In the event of default,

how Mr. Alison votes is of
course his own business.

Well, then,

we obviously have no problem.

The loan will never be repaid.

In 60 days, the
answer will be no.

But, now, see
here, Mr. Alison...

Save your breath. I said no.

Which, uh, brings
up another matter:

a phone call.

You did tell your mother
about Ms. Worden's call to you,

didn't you, Ralph?

What?

Oh, Kerry's call.

Sure, I told her that
Kerry changed her mi...

Shut up, you drunken...

Shut up!

Thank you for the corroboration.

I knew Ms. Worden called Joe

to tell him she wasn't voting
her stock with you, Ralph.

It didn't take too
much to figure

that she'd also called you.

Oh, hello, Hamilton.

You, uh, all know the
district attorney, Mr. Burger.

Evening, Perry. Sit
down, won't you?

I believe I've talked to all
these people just recently.

Evening.

Hamilton, if you overheard
some of the conversation,

well, so much for
Joe Davies' motivation,

and I'd say at
least half your case.

Oh, we knew about Kerry
Worden's two calls to Joe Davies

and to Mr. Quentin here.

And her call to Boyd Alison.

And since we're sharing
information, we now know

about the contents of Kerry
Worden's safe deposit box.

In it was a contract calling for

the sale of her
shares to Boyd Alison,

signed by Mr. Alison two
days before the murder,

but not yet signed by Kerry.

Mr. Alison,

Joe Davies got two phone calls

at the Fairmount bar
the night of the murder:

one from Kerry Worden and one...

And one from me.

The girl told me
she'd called Davies

and that she was ready
to sign my contract.

So I called Davies.

Why?

I intended to own the
paper and run it myself.

I told him that.

Once Kerry Worden signed
that contract, he was out,

once and for all
out, and for good.

That's very
interesting, Mr. Alison.

If you don't mind
following me downtown,

I'd like to get a full
statement from you.

Kerry Worden was a
double-crosser, all right.

But she was an extremely
attractive woman.

And as for your client's motive,

I imagine we'll be
discussing that in court.

Good night.

Mr. Lewis, what time was
it on the night of the murder

that you came into the
decedent's apartment?

As close as I can
remember, about 2:35,

2:36 in the morning.

Mr. Lewis, this poker...
People's exhibit one...

Has been established as
the probable murder weapon.

It's further been
established that it had on it

the fingerprints
of the defendant.

Now, I ask you, when
you saw the defendant

standing over the dead body
of your neighbor Kerry Worden,

did you also see this poker?

Yes. The defendant
Joseph Davies was holding it

in his hand.

Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

And then I struck out
alone, away from the river,

towards the nearest town.

And meanwhile, and
without your knowledge,

Prentiss York... his leg broken,

suffering from internal
injuries and shock...

Managed to crawl some
two miles from the river.

There, although he was
able to build a fire, he died.

Is that correct?

That was the report of the
Canadian authorities, yes.

Now, Mr. Stuart,
you were present

at the reading of
Adam York's will,

when this information about
Prentiss York was made known

and when it was announced
that Prentiss York's stepdaughter,

the decedent Kerry Worden,

was to inherit a substantial
share of the Chronicle?

Yes, I was there.

The day after the reading
of Adam York's will,

did you and the defendant
Joseph Davies lunch together?

Well, yes, we did.

Some accountants from
the newspaper were there.

It was a business meeting.

And during the course
of this business meeting,

did the defendant have the
occasion to express himself

about Kerry Worden's new status
as a shareholder of the paper?

Well, he... he
laughed and said that

it might be smarter to bring
the long engagement to a head

and marry her before
the heiress figured out

it might be more profitable

to vote her stock
with the Quentins.

It was just a joke, no more.

Yes, I'm sure it was.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Stuart.

Your witness.

No questions.

When I tried to restrain
Joe from attacking my father,

he got furious and
stalked out of the room.

Thank you, Mr. Quentin.

That'll be all.

Your witness.

So, Kerry Worden was to
marry you, not Joseph Davies.

I take it, you and the decedent

were in love with one another.

Why, certainly, of course.

Did you ever tell her so?

Well, no, not directly.

As a matter of fact, my
father discussed it with her.

How did you manage to propose?

In person, by telephone,

by letter?

That was, uh,
arranged by my father.

Are you, uh, sure
Ms. Worden wasn't

getting married to your father?

Your Honor, I protest.

I withdraw the question.

I'm finished with the witness.

You may be excused,

Mr. Quentin.

Mrs. Quentin, could you tell
us, please, about this matter

of your son's engagement
to the decedent?

Oh, my husband
handled the entire matter.

It was a straightforward
business deal.

No more, no less.

Mrs. Quentin,
you seem to find it

necessary to sell the Chronicle.

I have here a copy of
a confidential survey

made of the paper by an
outstanding business analyst.

It seems to confirm what was
well-known in newspaper circles:

that the Chronicle
was badly mismanaged

and verging on bankruptcy.

I wonder if you
could tell us the name

of the business analyst
who made this survey for you.

My husband, Seward Quentin.

Thank you, Mrs. Quentin.

That'll be all.

Yes.

It was on my recommendation

that the stockholders
meeting was requested.

I had arranged for
sale of the paper

to Coast Publishers,
Incorporated,

for two-and-a-half
million dollars.

Before the defendant left
the engagement party room,

did he do or say
anything to the decedent?

Yes.

He turned to Kerry
Worden and he said,

"Keep out of my sight.

If I ever get my hands
on you, I'll kill you."

It was after 2:00, and I
told him we had to close up.

And he left.

And then what, Mr. Young?

Well, Mr. Davies is a nice guy.

Well, he always treated me fine.

Well, I was worried about him,

and, well, I went
outside after him.

He didn't take his car,
he-he was just walking.

Well, I-I didn't want to
embarrass him or anything.

Yes, Mr. Young.

Well, he'd had an
awful lot to drink,

and I-I wanted to make
sure he was all right.

So I followed him.

You followed the defendant?

Where to?

Kerry Worden's apartment house.

I saw him go in.

And then what?

Well, after what happened at
the club and the way Joe was...

Well, Mr. Davies
was feeling, I...

well, I was a little worried.

Worried? About what?

Ms. Worden's safety, I guess.

I see.

Anyway, there was an
all-night drugstore at the corner,

and I, well, I figured I ought
to call her and say something.

Now, wait a minute, Mr. Young.

What time was it when
you saw the defendant

go into the apartment house?

2:30 in the morning.

Are you sure of that?

Well, I looked at my watch,

uh, worrying if it was
too late to call her.

But you did decide to call?

Yes. I looked up her
number at the drugstore.

Then I called her.

And did she answer?

Well, no, not exactly.

The line was busy.

The line was busy?

What time was this?

Couple of minutes after 2:30.

Now, at 2:30, you
saw the defendant

go into the apartment
house of the decedent.

At 2:32 or three, you phoned
her and the line was busy.

And at 2:35, her
neighbor saw her

lying there dead,
with the defendant

standing over her with the
bloody poker still in his hand.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

One moment, Mr. Mason.

We've gone well beyond

the hour for recess.

You may cross-examine
after lunch.

Court is recessed
until 2:00 p.m.

What about lunch, Perry?

No lunch today. I've
got to make a phone call.

Paul, I want you
to take the hospital

and the newspaper morgue.

Della, you get to the bank.

Hospital, newspaper
morgue, bank...

What are we on, some
kind of a treasure hunt?

No, an answer hunt.

The answer to who
killed Kerry Worden.

All right, Mr. Mason, proceed
with your cross-examination.

Now, Mr. Young, you
testified that at 2:32

on the morning of the murder

you tried to telephone
Miss Worden.

When you called,
you got a busy signal.

Is that right? Yes, sir.

I'm interested in trying
to reconstruct the state

of your mind at
the time in question

because I think it's pertinent.

Now, when you called,
the line was busy.

Do you remember what your
reaction was to the busy signal,

what you thought?

She was using it, talking
to somebody, I guess.

That's a logical guess.

Now I show you
people's exhibit three,

the police photograph
taken of the room

in which the murder occurred.

Whoa, looks like there
must have been quite a fight.

Chairs, lamps knocked over.

Place in a mess.

And here, what do you see here?

Well, it's a telephone.

Well, it's disconnected.

The base is on the table,

the receiver's hanging
down to the floor.

Is that what you mean?

Yes, it is.

Now, Mr. Young, in your
own personal experience,

if you were to call a number
and, uh, the telephone had

been similarly disconnected,
what would happen?

I'd get a busy signal.

Didn't this explanation
occur to you at the time?

That when you called, the
telephone might have been

disconnected in a struggle,
oh, let us say hours before,

and yet you still
would have gotten a...?

A busy signal.

No, no, it didn't occur
to me at that time,

but it does now.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

I have no further
questions, Mr. Burger.

Well, I have another
question, Your Honor...

on redirect.

Since Mr. Mason has been probing

the state of your
mind, Mr. Young,

I have a question.

You phoned that
apartment at 2:32.

Now if, if the struggle
which knocked

the phone off the hook
took place at 2:34...

Which seems most likely...

Why would the
line have been busy

when you called earlier at 2:32?

Because she was using it.

That's correct.

Thank you, Mr. Young.
No more questions.

Any more questions, Mr. Mason?

I think we've demonstrated
that the question is

not if she was using the phone,

but rather when the
struggle took place

or, more importantly,
when the murder took place.

No, I have no further questions.

You may step down, Mr. Young.

I call Mr. Boyd
Alison to the stand.

I would have controlled
the paper, Mr. Burger.

That always was
and is my intention...

To own and publish
the Chronicle myself.

That's exactly what I told
Joe Davies on the phone

the night of the murder.

So the defendant knew
that if Kerry Worden went

through with her deal with you,

he could kiss the
paper good-bye.

I made that unmistakably clear.

Now, on the night of
the murder, Mr. Alison,

you saw the
defendant personally.

Was that at the
Fairmount Club bar?

Yes, after the so-called
engagement party.

Davies had begun
drinking heavily.

I asked him was there
nothing he could do

about losing
control of the paper.

And what did the
defendant say to that?

Joe Davies said that short
of murdering Kerry Worden,

there wasn't
anything he could do.

Thank you,
Mr. Alison, that'll be all.

Your witness.

Uh, Your Honor, may
we have a moment

to prepare an exhibit?

You may, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Alison, you say you want

to own and publish
the Chronicle?

Quite an undertaking
without previous experience

in the newspaper field.

Or do you already
own a newspaper?

I own no papers.

The Derrick Flats Shopping News

and the Derrick
Flats Independent,

two newspapers.

Throwaways, I grant
you, but newspapers.

Do you own them, Mr. Alison?

No, not directly.

Not directly?

Both papers are owned
by Coast Publishers.

Coast Publishers is owned

by the D.F.
Industrial Corporation.

D.F. Industrial is owned
by Enterprises, Ltd.

Now Mr. Alison, who
owns 100% of the stock

of Enterprises, Ltd?

I do.

I ask you once again,
do you own a newspaper?

Yes.

Coast Publishers is the
company Seward Quentin testified

made a two-and-a-half-million-
dollar offer

to buy the Chronicle.

That offer, Mr. Alison,
came from you, did it not?

It did.

Why did you
subsequently withdraw it?

I found I could get
the paper for less

by way of the loan to Davies

and the purchase of
Miss Worden's stock.

As for the Quentins,
they were so hungry,

I knew I could pick up
their stock, too, in time

for very little cash.

At no time did you
support either Adam York

or his policies.

From the beginning,
you were opposed

to the Derrick Flats annexation

and the paper's support
of that annexation,

were you not? I don't know
what you're talking about.

The All Service
Company owning over 80%

of the Derrick
Flats slum property.

And among other things,
operating rental offices,

rubbish and garbage
collection services.

All Service Company,
D.F. Industrial Corporation,

Enterprises, Ltd.

Mr. Boyd Alison,
and a total net profit

of better than
$5 million a year.

What are you getting at?

If annexation was defeated,

and the city purchased the
alternate land, what then?

Every single foot
of every single acre

of that alternate marina site
is owned by two companies:

Souther Developers and
Management Associates.

Two companies owned by

Advance Land Corporation.

Owned in turn by
Enterprises, Ltd.

Back again to Mr. Boyd Alison.

Tell me, Mr. Alison, you

were not opposed to annexation?

All right!

All right, you've dug it all up.

But nothing you've said
suggests that I killed Kerry Worden.

Kerry Worden called Joe Davies,

she called Ralph Quentin
and she called you.

Now exactly what did this
rather double-dealing lady have

to say to you that might
have upset your apple cart?

That she was gonna
change your mind again? No.

That she wasn't gonna go
through her deal with you?

No.

That you would lose
control of the paper,

and losing that control,

your hope of defeating
the annexation?

No, no, no!

Your Honor, I object.

Defense counsel is

deliberately... One
moment, Mr. Burger.

You opened the door to all
of this on direct examination.

Yes, but, Your Honor...

Objection overruled.

Proceed, Mr. Mason.

Your Honor, at this time,

I would like to
recall Tilden Stuart.

You may step down, Mr. Alison.

Now Mr. Stuart,

on the night of the murder,

it was you who brought
Miss Worden, the decedent,

to the engagement party.

This is very
important, Mr. Stuart.

On the way to that party,
did Kerry Worden intimate

that she might change
her mind and sell her stock

to Boyd Alison?

Well, she may have
talked about her stock

that night, Mr. Mason.

I-I'm sorry, I just
can't remember.

That's very disappointing.

However, you might be able
to help us in another matter.

How much do you remember

about the Advance
Land Corporation?

The Advance... Land Corporation?

You purchased 5,000 shares
of stock in that corporation.

You also purchased an option

for an additional 5,000
shares at $150,000.

You might have become
a millionaire overnight

if the city bought that land

for a marina.

Now, you liquidated
all your assets

to buy that first
block of stock.

Where, Mr. Stuart, were
you going to get the money

for the second block of stock?

Please, Mr. Mason, I was...

Now, when you were on the
boat with Adam and Prentiss York

and the boat overturned,

was it then, Mr. Stuart,

when you pulled both
bodies to the shore,

was it then you figured out
where you could get the money?

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

The Prentiss York autopsy
findings were uncertain

as to the cause of death.

Since he'd been found
two miles from the river,

and since it was assumed
that he must have got there

under his own power,

shock, exposure and
internal injuries were listed

as the probable cause of death.

Now...

look at this
photograph, Mr. Stuart.

It's a photograph
of Prentiss York

where they found him dead.

Now here is an enlargement
of part of that photograph.

Will you please tell
us what you see in it?

It's a leg.

Prentiss York's broken leg.

Do you notice anything unusual

about the shoe on that leg?

No, nothing unusual.

It's unscuffed.

Prentiss York crawled
two miles over rocky ground

dragging a broken
leg behind him,

yet the shoe on that
leg remained unscuffed.

Take a look at
this, Mr. Stuart...

The hands he
used to drag himself

two miles over rocky ground.

Yet they're hands
without a mark,

without a scratch.

Both men were
killed in the rapids

by being smashed
against the rocks,

yet Prentiss York had no
marks on his legs or shoes

because you carried a dead
man two miles to establish the lie

that somehow Prentiss
York survived his brother.

Now why?

Why?

According to hospital records,

your first call, the
very first call you made

after reaching civilization
was to Kerry Worden,

and Kerry Worden was
your first visitor at the hospital.

Again, why?

I knew Kerry Worden.

I knew her greed.

And we made a deal.

I would set her up as Adam's
heir through Prentiss York.

And then we would split
the money from the sale

of the newspaper
by the Quentins.

The night you brought
her to the party,

did she tell you about
her deal with Boyd Alison?

Yes.

She found out
about my investment

and the alternate marina land
and refused to split with me.

In fact, she threatened
to expose me

if I didn't split my
share with her.

So you killed her?

I went to see her after I
took Mrs. Davies home.

I, I wanted to talk to her.

I had to talk to her.

We... There was an argument,

I picked up the poker and I,

I couldn't let
her sell to Alison.

I couldn't let her
tell people about me!

I needed time!

I... I needed time!

Time to get the money together,
time to pick up the option!

I was, I was desperate for time!

Just, just a little time!

At the very moment
Stuart killed Miss Worden,

he heard Joe at the door.

He put out the lights and hid.

And you, my young friend,

when you smashed
your way in and fell,

Stuart ran out.

He reached the stairs
and was gone from sight

by the time Mr. Lewis arrived.

Found me with a
poker in my hand.

And egg all over your face.

That's what you
get for being in love

with the wrong girl.

And who, Miss
Coffey, is the right girl?

Yes?

Late election returns.

Annexation winning
in a walkaway.

Oh!

Well, with Boyd Alison
indicted by the grand jury

and every civic
group behind you,

it should almost be unanimous.

I, uh, hate to inject
an unhappy note,

but there is the
matter of the Chronicle

and a rather substantial loan.

Didn't Joe tell you, Mr. Mason?

Our advertising's doubled,

our circulation's
gone into orbit.

We have enough contracts
to pay that loan off twice.

The girl positively amazes me.

It's never-ending enthusiasm.

What am I gonna do with her?

I, um, have a feeling
you'll think of something.