Original subtitles

Beyond the fact he's not a well man, prison records indicate complete

rehabilitation of Carl Proctor.

In my opinion, nothing would be gained by denying parole.

Thank you, Chief Ironside. We appreciate your coming here.

You all right, Mr. Hopkins?

How'd it go?

I don't really know.

I thought you had it all sorted.

So did I.

Majority was in favor of the parole before the hearing. Now I have the

one of the members changed his mind.

You fire inside?

Parole was denied.

I'm sorry.

By one vote?

Why, yes.

Thank you for taking the time to appear before us. No trouble.

Good day, gentlemen.

Good day, sir.

Who is she?

Very attractive woman.

Do you like peacock feathers?

I do.

On peacocks.

And on some women.

Are you going to tell us how you call that one?

Role denial?

Ben Hopkins told me.

Not in so many words. A few days ago, he assured me he was going to vote for the

parole. Today, at the hearing, he was nervous, tight as a drum.

It looked me in the eye.

Hardly the kind of behavior for a man who made a decision.

So he changed his mind.

I'm not so much interested in the fact that he changed his mind as I am in why.

Carl Proctor went to prison.

Still roughly $57 ,000, which was never found.

Money he'd built from...

Trusting people who believed in the occult.

50 G's, not bad for Mungo Jumbo. No?

Would seem possible then, wouldn't it?

Somebody didn't want him out?

I think they would want him out so he could leave them money.

None of that. Somebody had already found it, Ed.

Thank you.

Cheers.

Cheers.

All right, say it.

You think I owe you an apology for the way I voted this morning?

You don't owe me a thing, Mr. Hopkins, but I am curious. Why did you change

mind? I don't know.

I can't accept that answer.

I don't want to talk about it.

Mr. Hopkins, I have too much respect for you to beat about the bush.

Are you in some kind of trouble?

And can I be of any help?

Correct me if I'm wrong. I think I was looking at you the moment you changed

your mind.

I asked if you felt all right.

Recall that?

Yes.

Well?

You're... You're going to find this difficult to believe.

Less difficult than what you've been asking me to believe so far?

Well, when I looked at what I'd written, I saw that it was a no vote.

I have no idea how it got there.

You put it there.

Yes, but when I realized what I'd done, I wanted to change it. Why didn't you?

My hand wouldn't move. It moved when you wrote no, and it moved just now.

interested in the occult.

Only since I read that thing.

Came in the mail about a year ago.

Must have been written by the devil.

When you were still a newspaper editor, you wrote at length about Carl Proctor's

arrest and trial.

Isn't it possible you never intended to vote for the parole because of some

deeply entrenched attitude you had at that time?

I'm not sure I understand.

I'm saying you won't find the answer in that book.

Only in yourself.

Possibly, if you reread what you wrote at that time, you might find the answer.

Goodbye, Ben.

Oh, uh, by the way, that was an attractive woman waiting for you at the

hearing. I met her at a cocktail party about a year ago.

I should accept more cocktail invitations.

That's right, Ed. George Hopkins.

A complete breakdown.

All the information you can get on him. Sort of what happens to retired editors.

Source of income.

What he's been doing. Who he's been saving.

I'm with you. Oh, and one other thing.

Pick up a copy of a book called The Occult by Tom Walker.

The Occult.

Tom Walker.

Is that it?

That's it for now.

Chief. There was a message that came for you about half an hour ago. Yes?

It's from the warden at San Quentin.

Carl Proctor seems to have turned into worse. He's been moved to the infirmary.

The warden thought you'd want to know.

Thank you, Fran.

I should be back no later than seven.

Wait for me.

Well, someone's a problem.

Can't wait a new adjustment, I think.

I'm going to have to take her into the shop.

Oh, she gets back to the queue?

Yeah, but why?

Why happens to be the most troublesome word in the English language.

Back to Big Q.

The doctor told me you can't talk, Carl.

I'm sorry about the parole.

Next time, I'm sure.

Is there any reason someone wouldn't want you paroled now?

Would it have anything to do with the missing money?

You still believe in the occult, Carl?

Is that why you think the doctor won't be able to diagnose your condition?

She... got to him.

The parole, Ben Hopkins.

And now to you.

He's gone quite a while without sleep. Before you arrived, we sedated him.

Perhaps now. Of course. I'll see you outside.

Well, with rest, his nerves and muscles will relax so we can continue testing

him. You have no idea what's wrong?

No, except there are recognizable symptoms that seem to be increasing.

Such as?

Most notably, an extreme irritability in his relationships with others, a

complete loss of appetite, and this inability to sleep.

These symptoms could be attributed to many things, couldn't they?

Yes, but we haven't found them yet.

You've no idea what this effort to talk must have cost him.

You know, when he was informed of his parole denial, he tried to talk then,

he couldn't.

Finally, I put a pad of paper and a pencil in front of him, but no matter

hard he tried, he...

Couldn't move his hand.

That, um, crucifix. Would you happen to know how long he's had that?

I first noticed that a couple months ago.

I hadn't seen it before when I was examining him.

According to the records, he's an agnostic.

I asked him about that crucifix.

And he was very secretive. Almost angry.

A couple of months when he first became ill.

Yes, about that time.

All right, doctor, I'll be calling you to...

Check on his condition, if you don't mind. Not at all. There doesn't seem to

anybody else who cares.

Thank you.

Goodbye. Bye.

You notice anything strange in there?

This whole thing's strange to me.

I had the bag.

A rosary with crucifix.

The figure on the crucifix was upside down.

A mojo?

Or an ordeal.

At any rate, curse John.

You said this guy Hopkins couldn't move his hand either.

Ben Hopkins didn't want to move his hand, whereas Carl Proctor wanted to and

tried and simply couldn't. You heard the doctor. The doctor also said that there

was nothing wrong with Carl Proctor's medicine.

So far as he's been able to determine, but that doesn't rule out the

that he eventually will find the cause. Are you satisfied?

Are you? Yes.

Not me. I come from a long line of dissatisfied people.

Who makes no bones about it. No bones at all.

I've been looking all over town for the Occult by Tom Walker. I see your window

features it. I was wondering if you could tell me something about Walker.

Just the author.

Why?

Curious. Have you read the book?

No, but a friend of mine recommended it.

Shouldn't you first be curious about the book and then the author?

Let's just say I'm curious about both.

Charming.

Put them traps.

Shouldn't you also be curious about the friend who recommended the book?

Shouldn't you?

No, not at all.

I know all about him. Thank you.

I hope you enjoy the book, Sergeant Brown.

Not much.

Not much chili.

Not much information.

Not much anything.

Here. Read this.

See if you can come up with something.

Like what?

Not much, probably.

Why? Oh, what is that supposed to mean?

It's mumbo -jumbo.

I don't want to read it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even want to buy it. I

suppose you're going to tell me you didn't want to reach into your pocket

the money, but you simply couldn't stop your hand.

No, I'm not going to tell you that.

It was something about Madame Jabez.

What about her? I don't know.

Well, I do.

You apparently didn't like her the moment you saw her.

I recall some caustic remark about peacock feathers.

You apparently also didn't want to buy the book because somebody told you the

book was written by the devil. Well, Ed, it was not written by the devil, so

read it and that's an order.

Look who's shouting and getting irritable.

I am not shouting and I am not getting irritable. You're referring to Carl

Proctor's symptoms.

That I am. What is going on around here?

Why is everybody beginning to apply the supernatural to perfectly rational,

logical events?

Ironside's office.

Thanks, I'll be right there.

Where?

Financial check on Ben Hopkins is ready.

That's more like it. And Ed, about the book.

I would appreciate it if you found time to read it.

I shall.

Good.

Good. Now, did I shout?

Did I sound irritable that time?

No.

Do you know why?

Because you didn't feel like it?

Exactly.

Because I didn't feel like it.

And thank you, Ed.

Thank you very, very much.

Now, Fran...

I hope you're not tied up tonight.

Well, I planned an exciting evening of washing my hair and doing my nails, but

for you, Chief... Thank you.

I would like you to go to the library, take out as many books as they have on

the occult, fiction and non -fiction.

I hope it'll still be open. It won't be if you just sit there and speculate.

On my way, Chief.

Danger dynamite. We'll issue a fuse.

Good night.

See you in the morning, Chief.

Early.

Can I help it if it was a long trial?

That book Ed's reading, The Occult, is that black magic?

Not necessarily.

The occult is supposedly both good and evil.

Black magic is evil.

Has been for 6 ,000 years, Mark.

You don't have to be black to be evil, in case you were wondering.

Tell me something new.

All right, I'll tell you something new.

You just went past the lunar press.

Do you think you can turn around and go back?

I'll do my evil best. Of that, I'm sure.

I'm sorry, but Tom Walker wishes to remain anonymous.

Then he does exist, Mr. Butler.

We don't publish ghosts, Chief Ironside. What about ghost writers?

If you don't mind, I have a new book to get out by Tom Walker.

We publish many authors.

Then you have a partner.

I was using the editorial weed.

All right, Mr. Butler, if you want to talk about Tom Walker, that's your

privilege. But I would advise you to keep your royalty statements on him

available. For whom?

Internal revenue, for one. Me, for another.

An author has a right to anonymity if he chooses.

True. But a court of law also has the right to lift that anonymity if it

chooses. There's nothing illegal in what I'm doing.

Nobody said there was, Mr. Butler.

Nobody said there was.

Nowhere. Straight ahead.

Then turn right at the next corner and continue till we come to Madam J. Bear's

bookstore.

You're buying another book?

Don't do the browsing.

Perhaps she can tell us something about Tom Walker.

God.

I'd like to meet her.

How many times have I told you? He was here.

Who?

Ironside.

How nice.

He must have come here directly after leaving my place.

I've been invited for cocktails.

Why would he do that?

Because his Sergeant Brown bought a copy of the occult here.

Don't do it. Stay away from him.

And miss a meeting with a charming man.

He's as charming as a cobra.

Don't you understand?

He's asking questions about Tom Walker now.

He's getting too close.

Would you say the Chief Ironside might make a formidable opponent?

Very much so. This is no ordinary man.

I'm weary of ordinary men.

Could he be as... as, say, Daniel Webster was?

The ultimate opponent?

Every bit.

At last.

Don't forget, Jabez.

Daniel Webster took the devil by the throat.

Well, if Chief Ironside does that, I hope he'll have a different purpose in

mind.

Are you frightened for me, Walter?

Or for yourself? I'm getting some bad vibrations. And if I'm getting them,

others must be too.

Then I suggest you might take one of these.

My blood pressure is fine, thank you.

All I ask is, be careful.

Goodbye, Walter.

Sorry, Chief.

Nothing more on Ben Hawkins than I gave you this morning.

He lives a quiet, retired life.

All right, then.

Work up Walter Butler.

Done?

Extracurricular? Above and beyond the call.

Since you were so interested in the book, I decided to check out the Lunar

Press. That led me to Walter Butler.

Which led to?

Nothing shattering so far.

I've only been able to trace him back some nine years around the time Lunar

Press started.

Sounds promising.

And one of his printers thinks he was once a linotype operator.

I'm following that up.

My congratulations on your conscientiousness.

How are you with doing dishes?

Just terrible.

Where's Mark?

Prison infirmary. Carl Proctor? Dr. Ward said it didn't look too good.

I wanted Mark there in case there was a chance of getting a statement from Carl.

Cheer it up, Ed.

Aren't you aware of the therapeutic value of doing dishes? That's somebody

else's dishes, I'm not.

Now open your mind.

Relax.

Go with it.

What do you find?

Scrambled eggs and strawberry jam on wheat toast.

Mark had that. I didn't eat.

Again? All right. Let's take a look at what we know.

Fact one. Fact one, a fairly large sum of money is missing.

Fact two, Carl Proctor believes he's dying because someone is using the

against him. Three, Ben Hopkins thinks he might have vetoed Carl's parole

because of the occult.

Four, Tom Walker wrote a book on the occult, which I bought from Adam Jabez,

only bookstore in town that sells it. Five, Walter Butler was a linotype

operator before he became the publisher at the Lunar Press.

Answer the door.

I didn't hear anything.

That's because you were talking. Answer the door.

haven't been able to eat or sleep since I talked to you. I'm sorry. Any idea

why? You know why. You're harassing me, sending him to poke into my affair.

Are you sure we're the ones harassing you? Perhaps you're doing it to

Mr. Hopkins, I asked you to read over your old editorial, did you? Some of

What about those words?

Didn't they tell you something about yourself?

They were written ten years ago, but still true today.

You were angry about a man who could steal that much money, go to prison for

few years, then come out wealthy while an honest man could work all his life.

The only thing he would have at the end of it would be a lot of debt.

I was only angry at the system, not at a man.

Were you?

Are you now?

I... I... What difference does it make?

You could arrange another hearing for Proctor.

It's too late.

He just died.

Chief? Yes, have you been able to talk to Proctor?

No way.

He died a few minutes ago.

Who else knows?

No one. Why?

Nothing.

See you back here.

For God's sake, how did I know that?

You didn't. Until this very minute, you didn't. None of us did.

You knew he was ill. You felt guilty and you... Simply projected your fears.

I'm tired.

Very, very tired.

Is there anything we can do for you?

I don't think there's anything anyone can do.

Not now.

Good night, gentlemen.

Good morning. Good morning. So how are things this fine day?

Well... Come on, out with it.

Okay, how did you know Ben Hopkins was at the door last night?

I didn't know, but he was there.

How many times have you felt there was someone at the door, you opened it and

found someone there?

Now and then?

Exactly.

Now, Ed...

Suppose you had opened the door last night and no one was there. What would

have thought?

That you only imagined you heard something? I said to answer the door,

obviously, because I thought I heard something. Now, evidently, I had. Now,

we dismiss the fantasy and get on to fact?

We had a little caucus, Chief, and... And?

Well, you're not eating and you're not sleeping.

I am not eating because I'm not hungry. I'm not sleeping because I'm not sleepy.

Therefore, I sat up all night working.

Because during the day, I have to argue with the three of you, and I get nothing

else done.

Uh, Carl Proctor didn't eat or sleep.

And last night, Mr. Hopkins said he couldn't eat or sleep.

Proctor had $57 ,000 on his mind, and Hopkins had a guilty conscience on his.

have neither.

What is your excuse for not eating, besides not being hungry?

I am trying to lose weight.

I'll get it with time I heard the elevator.

Morning, Commissioner.

Morning, Ed.

Mark Grant.

Morning, Commissioner.

Oh, Dennis.

Coffee? No, thanks. I only have a minute.

I suppose you know that Carl Proctor has died.

Yeah, Mark was there.

Oh? What about the missing money? Any progress?

At the moment, none.

You think it was found and then spent?

It's possible.

Was there any connection between Proctor and Ben Hopkins?

We're working on that now.

Why?

Hopkins killed himself last night.

I left a note for you.

Doesn't make any sense to me, but keep me informed, huh?

Thank you, Dennis.

Does ring of prayer mean anything to any of you?

Yes. Madam Jabez.

It was described in the book I got from Madam Jabez.

We always come back to her, don't we?

Madam.

Madam Jabez.

No escort?

This is a pleasure I have no intention of sharing with my staff.

I'm flattered.

I've already ordered. Dry sherry? Perfect.

How did you know? This is my favorite place.

I didn't.

But it happens to be one of mine.

That augurs well.

I hope.

I hope.

However, aside from the pleasure of meeting you, I need advice.

For me?

I am flattered.

I seem to be involved in a matter which my staff feels has to do with the

occult.

It also concerns someone we both knew.

Ben Hopkins.

The man you saw me with at the parole hearing.

I was referring to Carl Proctor.

Proctor?

Well, I never knew him.

Not really.

Only in regard to what Ben told me about him.

Which was?

He was up for parole, that's all.

I gather you think that I am somehow involved with whatever it is you're

on. By accident, perhaps.

About a year ago, Ben Hopkins received a book through the mail.

The Occult.

By Tom Walker.

Your bookstore is the only one that sells it.

A proctor once practiced the occult before being sent to prison.

For practicing the occult?

For fraud.

involving a large sum of money which has never been recovered so far as we know.

Not long after Proctor had been told that his parole had been denied, he made

statement.

She got to him.

Really, any woman could have gotten to Ben Hopkins?

You are not any woman.

You have special talents.

Really?

And do you believe in those special talents?

I recognize that...

Others might.

Well, I'm afraid I can't help you.

I never knew Carl Proctor, nor anything about his missing money.

All right, then.

You can help me in another area.

And what is that?

How do you and I get invited to the same cocktail parties?

To Tom Walker.

If you hadn't been curious about him.

We might never have met.

Would you mind telling me what that was all about?

Cocktails with Madame Jaber?

You and Ed have cocktails with attractive gals all the time.

Do I ask you what it was all about?

When we do it, you know what it's about.

I may know what it's about, but you're a you.

What's the matter?

It's a carburetor, Dan.

No use, Mark. It's not going to start.

Okay, but what do I do about that truck?

Are you getting the same message I am?

Something like maybe you're next?

That's not the first time the motor's stalled.

Wouldn't start because you flooded it. You know something, Chief?

Those rational explanations of yours are going to be the death of you yet.

All night?

Yeah. Same as same.

Anything to eat?

Same as same.

That's it.

Oh. Morning, Fran.

Morning, Jeff.

Morning, Ed. Good morning. Mark.

Carl Proctor's burial is this afternoon.

He may have had $57 ,000 at one time.

But he's going to a pauper's grave.

No one's claimed his body?

No.

But I intend to be there when he's buried.

Mark, I want you to make sure his personal belongings are in a suitcase

the grave.

And see that this is included.

It's as close as I could get to Proctor's handwriting, but it won't bear

examination.

Any questions?

Yeah. What does that book you just read have to do with all of this?

For one thing, it tells me that Madame Jabez is a devout reader of Washington

Irving and Stephen Vincent Benet.

What does that prove?

My case, I hope.

Ed, how good a photographer are you?

I'm superb.

Good enough.

Hey, hold up Walter Butler at the Lunar Press.

Be open about it. Let him see you.

If he asks, let him know who it's for.

When you get his picture, the prime will have a list of everyone who employs

winotype operators.

Thanks for telling me. Then we showed the picture to everybody on the list.

How'd you guess?

Madam Jabez, this is Robert Ironside.

I have something interesting to do this afternoon. I thought you might care to

join me.

What a pity that a man should die and there's no one here.

You're here.

Because you brought me.

Among his belongings.

It's just a blank sheet of paper.

You sure?

I know these things.

And you're getting to know me.

Better and better.

But not nearly as well as you, Carl Proctor.

And of course, it won't surprise you to learn that I hold you responsible for

his death, as well as that of Ben Hopkins.

My special talents, as you call them, scarcely include murder.

Not in the obvious sense, perhaps, but through suggestion, fear,

anything that would influence susceptible minds.

Nowadays they call it psyching out.

Hardly a kind of murder.

It could be proved, is it?

If it were true, not even by the famous Chief Ironside.

Difficult, I agree.

In fact, impossible?

Next to.

But it won't be impossible to trace the money Carl Proctor trusted you with.

Are you psyching me out now?

Just playing the game.

I never play.

For me?

You know things.

Thank you for realizing we wouldn't leave together.

As well as for our little talk.

I'm Jerez.

It was Daniel Webster the devil really wanted, wasn't it?

Was it?

Now it's my turn to be flattered.

When I gave a girl the brush, I made her walk home.

That would have been pointless in this case.

Adam Jabez would have used her brew.

The way things are going, I don't know whether you're joking or not.

Nothing to joke about, Mark.

Legally, I can't touch her.

Then that kind of knocks you out of the ballgame, doesn't it?

No. No, it forces me into her ballpark.

What's the matter with your arm?

Nothing.

Move your hand, Chief.

Satisfied?

No.

I almost forgot.

You come from that long line.

Did you get Walter Butler's picture?

Yes. He was a linotype operator, all right, under a different name.

That's what I suspected.

Walter Butler comes right out of the devil in Daniel Webster. Madam Jabez

have made him change his name.

And I'd like him here at 8 tonight.

He wasn't very happy about having his picture taken. I don't know if I can

him into that.

Tell him I'm holding off his arrest for using stolen funds to open his

publishing house, but I might change my mind.

He'll come.

Eight o 'clock.

And, Ed, see to it that he doesn't call or leave any message for Madam J. Biz.

Got you.

Grant,

I'd like you to round up nine mediums. Just let it be known you'll pay the

rate. You won't have any trouble finding them.

Mediums? Seven here at the same time, eight.

Mediums. Front and center.

Come on, Chief. I know there's got to be some kind of duty for me.

You're going to be an underpaid electrician. Well, that I'm good at,

underpaid. You want me to wire something up? A chair, maybe?

Yeah, you'll find the directions all around here. Page 257. That's 257.

Good evening.

First, I would like to thank you all for...

Coming on such short notice, your presence here tonight is vital.

You all believe that evil can be conquered by a ring of prayer.

I know that when one of your members turns to black magic and misuses the

of the occult, you're all concerned.

If you haven't already sensed it, one of your members has been doing just that.

Since there are nine mediums here and ten are necessary for a ring of prayer,

and since the object of the prayer ring will be against someone who has already

used evil against him, I'm certain Mr.

Butler will cooperate and become the tenth juror.

A jury?

As you may recall in Benet's story, The Devil and Daniel Webster, the devil

handpicked a rigged jury against Daniel in the trial of Jabez Stone.

Daniel managed to defeat them and the devil.

But not without difficulty.

Now, one of the members of that jury was a man named Walter Butler.

We're indeed fortunate to have another Walter Butler serving on this jury.

This is ridiculous.

I absolutely refuse to... I can still change my mind, Mr. Butler.

Go ahead.

Let him go, Ed.

Please take your places now, ladies and gentlemen.

But, sir, we need ten to complete the ring.

I'm sure Miss Belding won't mind filling in.

Come over here, please.

Do you have a piece of chalk?

Yes, I have.

You

don't

believe in this stuff.

The only thing that matters is that Madam Jabez does. Let's go.

Hello?

Yes, Walter, what is it?

When?

It won't do any good.

Stop babbling, Walter.

You wouldn't be surprised.

All right, Mark, you just wait here.

But Chief, I... What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a muscle spasm

Good evening.

Have you tried liniment?

No, not yet.

I knew you were coming, of course.

Yes.

I expected you would.

Then you finally admit to the power of my special talent.

I admit to the power of some people's belief in them.

Perhaps before you leave tonight.

You can be persuaded.

You chilly?

I'll close the window.

I've talked to Walter Butler.

What could he possibly tell you?

Nothing yet.

But I'm sure he'll eventually explain where he got the money to open a

publishing house.

You, of course, know where that money came from.

Do I?

Now, as for the remainder of the money...

I think we both know where that went.

Whatever, don't you understand?

We're different from ordinary people.

Above the law?

It's a high price to pay in order to get a book you stole published when no

other house would handle it.

Then your own bookstore because no one else would handle it.

A book I stole?

As surely as you stole that money.

Tom Walker wrote it.

Tom Walker.

Interesting choice of names for one of your disciples right out of Washington

Irving.

But he lost to the devil, didn't he?

The way Carl Proctor lost to you.

You think he ever understood why you did this to him?

speaking. Madam Jabez is in the hospital, a stroke.

When? Oh, about half an hour ago.

Why, that's when they stopped preparing.

Now, Fran. Fran, come on.

Well, it is getting to be a more than coincidence.

The ring of prayer and then... Madam Jabez was a victim of her own

Sir, your psychology.

I'm sorry it went as far as it did.

Still your arm.

My arm is fine.

And you weren't eating.

I told you... Ironside.

Well, Dennis, your timing couldn't be better.

Hold on. You can check it with Mark.

Oh, Mark.

Commissioner. How much does the chief weigh?

What? Don't give any numbers. Just tell me if he's lost any.

Well, I got him on the scale this morning. He's dropped ten pounds.

All right, Bob, that's five I owe you.

Satisfied. Satisfied?

Satisfied. I just left the line.

Oh, Dennis, I'm afraid you owe me more than that. At least the department does.

What? Matter of expenses connected with this case.

Oh.

$4 .95 for a book.

Then there's a rather substantial item for the services of not.

if there's any mediums for.

Technical advice.

I'll be around to collect in the morning, Dennis.

Good night.

Bob, I... Bob, hello.

Gee, there's one thing I still don't get.

After Walter Butler left, why did you keep the mediums, let the ring of prayer

go on?

That couldn't help.

It wouldn't hurt.