Original subtitles

Here we are.

Well, thanks for the fast service, Leone.

What are you trying to do, sober me up with some drinks?

Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Batty, but it took time out to call you a cab.

What are you, Leone? Some kind of a den mother?

How do you think I got the gray in my hair?

Fill it up.

Mm -hmm.

You've had your last drink here tonight, Mr. Batty. Oh, wait a minute. You were

smashed when you came in an hour ago. Is that any of your business?

Yes, sir.

I don't want you getting into your car and killing yourself or anybody else.

What did you say?

I said I don't want you to get into any trouble. What did you say?

Somebody call a cab?

Yes, right here. What did you say about me killing somebody?

I said you could, the shape you're in now.

There's your cab.

Let him take you home, right?

Kill somebody.

Don't get hung up on that. I just meant... Get me out of here.

Keep the meter running. Come with me.

Now, wait a minute, mister. I argue.

Operator, get me the police.

This is Jason Banning. I'm calling from my office at Sansom Street, 248 South.

I think I've killed my secretary.

Chief, here's your coffee.

I've got to split it. I'm going to audit that lecture. So get the ends.

Good morning, Mike. He's got his coffee. The rest is in the oven.

Bye. Bye. Hi, Keith.

You're very cheerful this morning, Miss Whitfield.

Why not?

It's your breakfast.

What does that mean?

You can't really amaze me, Chief.

Chorizo for breakfast, chili for lunch, hot... curry for dinner. Can I help it

if I'm on a bland diet?

Hi. I suppose I'm already late.

Eve has told you about this? Well, you've been having a fascinating little

discussion of my stomach and how I'm killing it, according to Miss Happy

Homemaker.

According to the front page, a friend of yours was booked last night.

Jason Banning.

Looks like the charge could be murder one.

When did Jason Banning become a particular friend of mine?

Well, he's trustee of the police retirement fund and you're chairman of

board. Which means I see Banning possibly six times a year.

Then it's of no interest to you that he says he killed this girl.

On the contrary, it's of great interest to me.

He's been managing the investment program for several million dollars and

my responsibility.

About time I got to know him better.

Chief. Ed.

Great to have you on board.

Carl. What's the story on Jason Banning?

You read the morning papers?

It sounded open and shut.

Like a revolving door.

Look at these reports.

Crime lab, medical examiner, coroner's preliminary.

I'd like your reading on them.

Those pictures will give you an idea of what we found when we got to Banning's

office last night.

Looks like it must have been a real piercer while it lasted.

She obviously put up quite a struggle.

Amazing, isn't it, what a little 90 -pound woman can do when she's backed

corner?

Yes?

Send her in.

According to the paper, Banning admits he killed the girl.

One of those broken romance things.

In spades.

I think you know Chief Ironside, and this is Sergeant Brown.

Hello, Chief.

Well, this is quite a switch on our usual meetings. Now, you're the expert.

Inspector Reese is the expert. I'm just here as an involved spectator.

Sit down.

Mr. Banning, when we spoke to you last night...

There were some blank spots in your recall as to what happened during the

evening. Have you remembered any more since then?

No, nothing more.

There were some points we were hoping you would clarify for us.

What else do you need, Inspector? I told you I'd sign the confession.

Why, Mr. Banning?

Because I killed Kathy Dana.

You did?

You're telling me I didn't?

That's what Inspector Reese was saying, Jason. And according to these reports,

he's right.

But I... I don't understand.

I ought to know if I... Necessarily.

These reports state facts, not alcohol and hallucinations.

I... I'd like to believe what you're telling me, but... Then let me lay it

for you.

Autopsy report, cause of death, asphyxiation, windpipe closed by knotted

multiple abrasions, concussion.

Combine that with the state of your office when the police got there, and

obvious Miss Dana put up a fight for her life.

Yeah. Yet the police surgeon who examined you last night certifies you

unmarked. But... Crime lab report. There were no latent fingerprints in the

office except yours. You made those when you returned to the office with the cab

driver. But how did I know so exactly what had happened back at my office? I

mean, the minute the bartender said the word kill, I knew.

I could see Kathy lying there dead.

You could have gone back to your office earlier, seen her there, and been so

drunk it didn't register.

But couldn't I have done it while I was blacked out?

Not without having a hand laid on you.

This killer's got to be marked.

He even took the pains to clean under the victim's fingernails so there'd be

possibility of skin typing him.

It all seems so real.

I suppose I should stop fighting you and be grateful.

I am.

premature. Do you go along with him, Chief?

You have some reservation?

Jason, I wonder about this blank you drew.

Has alcohol ever caused you to black out before? I mean, it's totally easy to

believe it happened last night. No.

You've had that much to drink before?

I've become that much of a drinker.

Her walking out on me started it. What about medication?

Were you taking anything?

Well, my doctor had just prescribed a pill for hypertension.

Some kind of a tranquilizer.

I was taking three a day.

That could be the answer.

A synergistic reaction between those pills and the booze. One triggered the

other.

All right, Mr. Banning. I guess that wraps you up for now.

The officer will take you now to the property custodian and you can draw your

things.

You mean I can go?

But stay in town.

There may be some questions later.

You'll find them, won't you, Chief?

You'll find the man who murdered Kathy and see that he's punished.

Because until that happens, I... I'll be living in this nightmare,

never believing that I didn't kill her.

Well, Reese, what do you think?

I think when he gets over his hangover, he's going to be mighty glad we let him

off the hook.

He isn't off it yet.

You mean the nightmare bit?

I think that's exactly where he's living.

And you're going to shake him out of it?

One way or another.

You should have seen Danny last night. All he could say was he wanted to sign a

confession right then.

What stopped him?

He couldn't pass the sobriety test.

I think he needs a head shrinker to unload his guilt feelings on.

He's got a lot to feel guilty about.

He blew a marriage to have this girl and she dumped him. If he didn't kill her,

he at least had to think about it.

I must admit, Jason made a beautiful case against himself. He had motive,

opportunity, and no alibi for the time of the murder.

He made a believer out of me last night.

Bye.

If you find anything of interest, you can reach us at Banning's office.

Right.

Kind of a high financial district for a secretary.

Possibly one of the fringe benefits of the job.

Please, Custer, turn around and put your hands on the wall.

Slide your feet back.

Now don't move.

All right, inside.

What are you doing in here?

I work here. Doing what?

The building maintenance.

What's your name?

Matt Radden.

That picture.

Did you come in here to straighten it? No.

I came in here to get it.

Does it belong to you?

I painted it.

It's pretty good for an amateur.

I'm not an amateur.

I just don't sell enough to make a living at it yet.

How much did she pay you for it?

It was a present.

That's why I was taking it back before somebody else grabbed it.

She was a very beautiful girl.

Yes.

I thought so.

Is that why you painted her portrait?

That's one of the reasons.

What are the others?

I loved her.

A little rich for you, wasn't she?

Poor artist, making a living by moonlighting as a janitor.

How could you compete with the men she met in her job?

She had time for me.

Where do you live, Mr. Radden?

In the building.

The owner lets me have a room in the basement for what I do around here.

you mind letting us see it?

Not if it'll help you find out who killed her.

It might.

You believe me now?

I believe you're a painter.

I found this in the clothes hamper.

Take off your gloves.

I, uh, cut my hands opening a window that was stuck.

Show us the window.

It wasn't here.

Mrs. Talley's apartment, 215.

I'll take it out. Why don't you go upstairs and see what else you can find?

Well?

This way.

Hi, Matt.

I understand you have a broken window in your apartment.

Could I see it?

I'm afraid there's nothing to see. It's already been repaired.

But the glass was broken.

Oh, yes, yes.

Matt cut his hands very badly.

When was this?

Oh, yesterday afternoon, about 3 .30.

Matt, I'm very sorry about Kathy. I know how hard it must have hit you.

Although I never exactly thought she was your type.

That dame, it's because I wouldn't play games with her.

I'd say you were a very fortunate guy, at least up to now.

Did you tell anybody else about those cuts on your hands?

I did more than that. I went to see a doctor.

What's his name?

Wheeler.

Alfred C. Wheeler, M .D., Medical Association Building on Sutter.

What do you need from him?

Mrs. Talley already told you how I got these scratches.

She told me how you got some of those scratches.

Does that mean I'm under arrest?

No.

How did Radden's broken window alibi hold up?

Well, we've established that there was a broken window.

I still want to check it out with the doctor who treated him.

Did you find anything?

I've been through all of her personal things. Miss Dana had very expensive

Jason Banning was picking up the tab for all this. Not completely. Take a look

at these bank accounts.

I found them in the bottom drawer of the desk while I was going through her

personal papers.

$25 ,000?

$12 ,000?

$100 ,000.

And all under different names.

Note that the accounts were closed out yesterday.

Sheila Story, Betty Cole, Grace Lane, Winifred Bolter.

And no account for Kathy Dana.

You wouldn't want to bet that they're all Kathy Dana.

No.

But I think we'd better find out.

I'll check the banks.

You stick around here and see if you can find anything else.

Like $100 ,000?

or a key to a safety deposit box.

Chief, I think we scored.

This notebook apparently was Kathy Dana's office diary. Take a look at

entries.

Clinton, $25 ,000, April 25th.

Tom, $12 ,000, April 16th.

Over $100 ,000.

So that's what secretaries do on those long lunch hours.

What do you think, Chief?

Blackmail?

I think we'd better see what Banning knows about his secretary's financial

empire.

Inspector Reese. Yeah.

They told me that I'd find you here.

That was the lecture.

Fine, fine.

Thanks for letting me know.

We may be a little late.

Manning's in the emergency room at St. Mark's Hospital.

Over those sleeping pills.

Sorry, Chief.

I guess you have to color me stupid.

The doctors tell us if there'd been five or six more red devils in that bottle

you emptied, it would have done the trick.

I'm not so sure that's lucky.

You said you wanted us to find Kathy Dana's murderer.

Would you have wanted to miss out on that?

You know, did it?

We've been making some progress.

At this point, you might be able to help us.

Do these names mean anything to you?

They're just first names.

That's right.

I... I can't make any connection.

Have you any idea as to why those men might have given her money?

No. No, I...

A thing like this could indicate blackmail.

Blackmail? Unless you can help us assign a more legitimate explanation.

I... I guess I'll have to be honest with you, Chief.

And myself.

I knew about those men.

Though not who they were, but... You could have told us about them last

Frankly, I didn't know she'd gotten money from them.

I knew there were other men in her life. She told me.

I respected her honesty.

I put them out of my mind.

Or I thought I had.

Till I got smashed last night when she made it clear that she was through with

me.

I guess that could even have been what started the fight.

I'll tell you one more time, Mr. Banning. You did not have a fight with

Dana. Not the one that ended with her murder.

He's right, Jason.

That fight didn't just happen. The murderer went to your office with the

intention of killing Miss Dana.

How do you know that?

The murder weapon.

Weapon? The scarf.

It was cheap, heavy -gauge material, a brand sold in dime stores, if there is

such a thing anymore.

Kathy Dana wouldn't have owned a scarf like that. The killer had to have

it with him.

Did she often work that late in the office?

She was quitting.

And she said she wouldn't marry me. She said she couldn't go on working with me.

We both agreed.

She stayed later that night to clean out her desk when...

Whatever happened.

We'd better let you rest.

I'll say one thing for Bannon. When he says he's killed somebody, he's not

to be talked out of it.

Nurse?

Yes, sir?

Oh, nurse.

There's a reporter from the dispatch waiting in the lobby to see me.

Would you send him in, please?

Surely.

were able to identify Miss Dana by her signature.

She changed her appearance with her name, different wig, style of clothing.

As Mrs. Bolter, she even walked with a limp to dress the part.

What about Radden's doctor?

Did you contact him?

Yes, Dr.

Wheeler can't remember the exact number of scratches he treated on Radden's

hand, but he's sure he can tell a glass cut from a fingernail gouge.

He may be called upon to do just that.

Interesting article in the paper. You still consider Radin a suspect?

Let's just say I haven't ruled him out completely.

I think you ought to read... He finds Ed's office.

Yes, Commissioner.

Yes, Dennis?

Of course.

Right away.

I wonder what's so urgent.

Well, it's like I've been trying to tell you. There's this groovy story on the

front page of the dispatch.

Am I a murderer?

That is the question which has tormented Jason Banning, prominent financial

district figure to the point of attempted suicide.

I can't go on living like this, he told your reporter.

If the police refuse to believe my story of the murder of Kathy Dana, I must

look to a higher law.

How's that for openers?

For openers?

Just groovy.

Gentlemen.

I suppose you've seen this.

Yes, I've seen it.

What about it?

We don't have sufficient evidence to make an arrest.

To put it another way, we don't have any evidence that Banning killed the girl.

Well, the DA's office doesn't seem to think so.

You've read the reports of the Dana killing.

I've also read the paper.

The facts remain, Dennis.

That newspaper handout doesn't change them.

How do you explain Banning's insistence on saying he did it?

He's not one of those psychos that goes around confessing every crime he reads

about. I think he went through a drunken traumatic experience and hasn't snapped

out of it yet.

Bob? I don't have a better explanation yet.

Well, I'm afraid that's not going to satisfy the DA.

When a person gives a voluntary confession to the newspapers, the public

some action.

Here.

Yes, hang on. It's for you.

Thank you.

Ironside.

We'll take care of it.

Thank you for letting us know.

That was a Mrs. Talley.

Has an apartment where Miss Dana lived.

Her .32 automatic has been stolen.

Why would she report a stolen gun to you?

She doesn't want Banning killed with it. She thinks Radden took it after he read

the newspaper.

Now put a gun on Banning's hospital room. Tell Ed to meet us there, too.

You want to get rid of that gun?

I

expect

you artist types to over -dramatize, Mr. Redden, but this is ridiculous.

It's easy for you to say your girl wasn't killed.

You don't have to read a lot of newspaper garbage given out by the man

admits he did it.

If it's any comfort to you, we're about to arrest Banning. He's in the next

room.

Carl, you take Mr. Radden in.

I'll see Banning.

You're about to get your wish, Jason. I'm placing you under arrest.

You'll be transferred to jail as soon as the hospital permits you to leave.

Until then, you'll be under guard.

What made you change your mind?

I haven't.

But after your recent statement to the press... You must be wondering what kind

of a nut I am.

You're under arrest as a legally sane murderer.

You'll have to prove otherwise.

Now, that's not as easy as it may sound.

I'm not looking for an easy way out.

Well, at least the commissioner will be satisfied now.

Dennis is never satisfied.

Look who's talking.

You're right, Mark.

I'm not satisfied about this.

I'm simply bowing temporarily to public opinion so we can get on with the case

in peace and quiet.

If she knew all those men well enough to blackmail them, you'd think somebody

would have seen them going in or out of her apartment house.

Well, that's what bad doors are for.

Question.

If it was one of the men listed in her book, how did they know she'd be working

late that night?

Radden could have known.

He said he loved her.

He could have gotten jealous and... Ironside.

Yes, Eve.

Detectives do not begin reports by saying, guess what.

We'll be right over.

Can't be in his apartment.

He just found out it was Bub's.

The bug had been removed, but I found this hole where the wire was let in.

It came through here, just underneath the sill.

I'm proud of you.

Nothing any sharp -eyed American girl wouldn't have seen. Well, that puts it

together. Kathy Dana was conning the cats up to her apartment, and Ratten,

friendly artist, was taping the shows to be released at a more convenient time.

Then Ratten ought to be able to identify those men for us.

I hate to shoot the Marx theory down in flames because it makes sense.

However, look at that plaster dust down there.

In light of that, what conclusions would you draw?

This apartment's been bugged recently.

Now, why would you say that?

This dust should have been picked up the last time this room was cleaned.

Agreed.

Ed, get us a sample for a lab analysis. When you finish that, find out if the

building manager knows when this apartment was cleaned last and get named

cleaning woman.

I also want to know about... to anyone else who's had access to this apartment

recently.

Mark, examine the outside of the building and tell me what you see.

The plaster was chipped off by the drill that made the hole.

How does the plaster look?

Any sign of it being weathered?

No, there's even a small piece hanging.

Paint all this hole again.

All right, let's get that in an envelope too, Ed.

I'll take the envelopes down to the police lab. You and Eve can join me

when you've completed your search here.

I have completed it.

When you found that outlet, did you stop searching?

Yes.

Well?

You think somebody else could have bugged it, too?

Until we look.

We won't know, will we?

Unfortunately, we're dealing with an electric typewriter. Such things as key

pressure and spacing are almost automatic.

We're at a manual machine.

We could find a vast difference in the typist's capability.

However, we're still in business.

Well, that's nice to hear.

Now, this typing on this page, which we know was done by Miss Dana, makes full

use of the machine spacing feature. There are no strikeovers. She was a

skilled typist. In contrast, this specimen from her diary does show

It could be argued that the girl making a quick note in her loose -leaf diary

might be less professional about her typing and she would be about something

more critical.

Well, but the same mistakes show up on all these other pages, Chief.

Then your position is that Kathy Dana did not type those entries.

That's right. The ones involving the money. All the other writing in the book

shows up as her work.

In other words, the whole list of supposed gentleman friends is phony.

about red herrings. That's a whole school of them.

It tells you who the murderer isn't.

Anyway, you've saved a lot of time, which you would have had to spend trying

run down a list of non -existent blackmail victims.

But... It also narrows the list down to those who had access to her apartment.

Two men so far, Banning and Radden. But you proved that Banning couldn't have

done it, despite his confession.

Now, wait a minute, Dennis.

He couldn't have done it the way he said he did.

How did the lab analysis on the plaster fragments turn out?

Displacement was very recent.

Had little normal house dust showing in it.

That squares with what the apartment manager told me about the cleaning

She did the apartment four days ago. The manager let her in with a passkey.

There was a man working in the building from the telephone company.

I called the company. They had no record of him. Did you find any evidence of

another listening device? No, sir.

We went over it with a fine -tooth comb.

Then the only bugging of that apartment occurred quite recently.

You think whoever bugged it heard something that made him decide to kill

No. It's a reasonable hypothesis.

The questions are then, what did she say? To whom did she say it?

And who was at the other end of the line when she said it? In other words,

you're prepared to disregard Banning's confession completely.

It wasn't much of a confession. It only shines like one in the dark. He only

confessed the things he couldn't alibi, in case we questioned him. He could also

be trying to pressure us into acting on his confession without corroborating

evidence, so that he could repudiate it in court.

Say he was mentally unbalanced from shock and grief.

His attorney could then proceed to use our own lab reports to prove he couldn't

have killed him.

Leaving some eager young assistant DA standing in court with egg on his face.

At which point, if I read my law books correctly, Benning's attorney asked for

dismissal and he's home free.

That could be the way his script reads.

I suggest we make a few revisions in it. Like what?

Like finding out what was said in her apartment while it was bugged and who

listening.

Hello, Mr. Radden. Are they treating you all right?

I've been in worse jails.

Sit down.

Mr. Radden, how big a thing was it between you and Kathy Dana?

I don't have to answer that. You don't have to answer anything.

You were apparently going to take a man's life over her, so we think we can

a few conclusions.

Get off me, will you? I'm not going to talk about it. All right, I'll talk

it. You told us you loved her. And you implied that your feelings were

reciprocated. Is that an accurate assumption?

What difference does it make now?

It could make a big difference in helping us find out who killed her. We

you want us to do that.

Unless, of course, you did it.

Why would I kill her?

We were going to be married.

Why didn't you tell us that in the beginning?

Because it was none of your business.

It was between Kathy and me.

Can't you understand that? It was private.

Murder is not a private thing, Mr. Ed.

Okay, okay, now you know. We were going to be married. Does that satisfy you?

You and Miss Dana discussed your forthcoming marriage, I assume.

Of course we did.

In her apartment?

Yes.

Why? What's that got to do with it? Would you happen to remember if you and

were discussing it in her apartment between the 12th and the 16th of this

I guess so.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was with her every evening.

Naturally, we talked about it.

Mr. Radden, what were your plans about money?

You weren't making any to speak of.

And Miss Dana apparently was living up to every penny of her salary.

Kathy had an inheritance.

She hadn't collected it yet, but she said it would come to about $50 ,000.

When she got it, we were going to go down to Carmel to live.

On her money?

Until I could support her.

I wasn't marrying her for her money, if that's what you're thinking.

I didn't even know about the inheritance until she mentioned it the other night.

What night was that?

I don't remember exactly.

It's very important that you do remember. Now think, Mr. Radden. Why?

Why is it so important?

We're trying to solve Kathy Dana's murder, Mr. Radden.

You'll have to take our word as to what's important.

It was last week.

Wednesday, Thursday, I forget which.

But I still don't see why... Kathy Dana's apartment was bugged, we think,

12th of this month. So anything that was said after that date had an audience.

Banning? Or you.

Me? Why would I want to do a thing like that?

Because we don't think you believe that bit about the inheritance any more than

we do.

You had the room bugged so you could find out the real score.

Oh, you guys are crazy.

Are we?

You've got no right saying things like that.

We loved each other.

We were going to be married.

All right, Mark.

Can't you understand that?

We loved each other. I didn't care whether she had $50 ,000 or 50 cents.

knew that.

All we wanted was each other.

Small world.

It'd be smaller if I could get my hands on you.

So you're the man she childrened me for.

I just want you to know one thing.

No matter how long you get, When you get out, I'll be waiting for you.

She wasn't worth it.

Believe me. You thought she was.

That's why you couldn't stand to lose her.

She was a cheap double -crossing with... Shut up!

If you had one ounce of decency in you... Oh.

You're a real boy scout, aren't you?

You killed her. Isn't that enough?

Do you have to try to drag her down to your level now that she's dead?

Mister, I never dragged her anywhere.

She was way ahead of me.

But I don't want to hear any more of your crummy lies.

I know what kind of a girl she was.

You don't know anything about her.

You just think you did.

I told you I don't want to talk about her.

Sure you don't.

You're afraid you might find out a few things about her you'd rather not know.

Shut up.

Like where that phony inheritance was coming from.

And why you're feeling so noble.

Try and figure out what kind of a man goes on a honeymoon financed by another

man. You think I'm a heel?

What do you think that would have made you?

That's a lie.

You think because she's dead you can say anything you want about her?

Like where that phony inheritance was coming from.

And why you're feeling so noble.

Try and figure out what kind of a man goes on a honeymoon financed by another

man.

Would you care to go into more detail?

First place, you can't use that.

Besides, you've already got my confession.

Wrong on both counts. We can use it. And the confession isn't worth the paper

it's written on. Nevertheless, I'm afraid it'll have to do.

Not at all.

We're not challenging the fact that you killed her, only the manner in which it

was done and the reason for doing it.

Would you like to hear our version?

Not particularly.

Nevertheless, I think it will interest you.

Inspector. In the first place, there was no struggle in your office.

You killed her, then messed up the place to look as if she had put up a fight.

Then you typed that list of names for us to find.

The money was real, only it didn't come from boyfriends. It came from the

pension funds you were administering.

She was banking it for you so it couldn't be traced.

You're forgetting one thing.

My books are audited every year.

This time, we'll know what to look for.

Inspector, I think we have Mr. Banning's interest.

When she dissed you for Radden, instead of handing over all the money, she kept

half of it for herself.

Sort of a dowry. You learned that when you listened in on the bugging device

had installed in her apartment and heard her tell Radden she had a $50 ,000

inheritance.

You can't prove any of that.

On the contrary.

By the time the auditors have found the discrepancies in your books, I'm willing

to bet that we'll have located the person who bugged her apartment for you.

And as I have a personal interest in the pension fund from which you've been

stealing, I hope you'll be smart enough to make restitution for whatever

consideration that may get you from the district attorney.

Officer?

That's some comfort.

The guy I feel sorry for is Red.

It's going to be tough to learn that the girl you were in love with was mixed up

in a thing like that.

It's happened before?

Well, well, well.

The voice of experience.

I read a lot.

This is a diagram of the campus. The park is over here.

And next is a list of the witnesses together with their statements, such as

are.

Come in.

You sent for me?

That's right.

I want to thank you for driving the charges against me.

There isn't much point prosecuting a man for possession of a gun that won't

fire. No firing pin.

Tell Mrs. Talley that I think it's very wise of her to keep the gun inoperable.

That way she gets the comfort of knowing it's there without the possibility of

shooting herself in the leg.

Thanks.

You're free to go.

Mr. Ed.

I'm sorry.

Funny. When I took that gun away from him, I could have sworn.

That just goes to prove the fallibility of the human eye.