All language subtitles for tales_of_the_unexpected_s07e03_proxy

Good afternoon, Mr. Sutton.

All

right,

this letter is to Governor Abelson,
state capitol.

Dear Joe, just read the legislature
plans to extend the new school bond

That's a big mistake, Joe.

My papers and broadcasting interests
can't support that, or any legislator

does.

I suggest you put the word out to your
people.

Now, there's an election coming up, Joe,
and I'm disinclined to help faint

hearts.

All right, let's play some golf next
time you two come down to date.

Beautiful day, Mr.

Sutton.

Yes, yes it is.

I don't think I'll be going back to the
office this afternoon, William.

Yes, sir, Mr. Sutton.

Sarah? Good afternoon, Mr. Sutton.

Afternoon, Sarah.

Will Mrs. Sutton be joining you for
lunch, sir?

She'll be down in a minute, Sarah.

Oh, Sarah, sir, first she's late to a
hospital charity auction.

Yes, sir.

Perfect weather for the auction.

We should make a considerable sum for
the hospital.

Oh, and thank you, darling, for helping
us with all that marvelous publicity.

Well, it was no great task, since I own
both the newspapers and the TV station.

I know, Art. But nowadays, with the
independent attitude of editors and

reporters, well, ownership doesn't seem
to matter much. Oh, which reminds me. I

spoke to my brother Henry yesterday.

Well, as you know, he has decided to run
for the Senate again.

So we must do our best to support his
efforts, hmm?

Now, haven't I always done my very best
for you, brother?

Well, I must say, you've always been
very good about it.

It's just that, well, Henry's getting
older.

And he has a very young and attractive
opponent.

So we must be even more clever this
time.

Oh, and Archie, please be discreet in
your relationships

with people, hmm?

Martha, my relationships are a figment
of your imagination.

Not quite, dear.

There was that young woman.

That young woman, to all intents and
purposes, doesn't exist. She's happily

married, has two children, lives in
Brazil.

Why do you keep dragging up a minor
indiscretion at the end of ten years

Because that minor indiscretion almost
caused Henry his seat in the Senate.

Oh, there's Carl.

I'll probably join her for dinner, dear,
so don't wait for me.

You have a successful auction, dear.
Thank you, dear.

Hello?

How you doing, Art? Just called to
remind you that you're a tad bit behind

your, shall we call it, contribution?

I told you never to call me here, never.

Marla, I've been very generous with you,
much more generous than those other

victims of it.

Sarah, would you do that later, please?

Now, look, you've broken our agreement.

Well, prices are going up, Archie. There
is that thing called inflation, you

know.

Inflation? Are you insane?

My love, I am fed up with this blackmail
business. Do you understand me? Fed up.

Now, you'll get your usual payment
today, and that's it.

He's in a terrible rage.

Where's the gold, Mr. Paul?

It's not what's fallen, it's what's
going up that got him snarling.

Probably his blood pressure.

His girlfriend.

Ex -girlfriend, that is.

She wants more money, who's about to
bust.

That's some nervy woman, that Miss Marla
Scanlon.

Seems to me she's been blackmailing him
now for about two years.

$2 ,000 a month, I imagine.

Imagine she saved herself a pretty penny
for her retirement.

I imagine it's a good deal more than
we've put away for ours, William.

Now, don't go worrying yourself about
that again, Sarah.

I'm doing the best I can.

I know, William.

But the best don't seem to matter.

It won't get us that sweet little Rocky
Mountain farmhouse Cousin Lee showed us

last time we was home.

Now, Sarah, you married a simple Rocky
Mountain boy.

I never claimed to be clever.

Just gonna have to make do.

Yes, sir, Mr. Sutton.

I'll be right down, sir.

Ask him, will you?

Maybe he'll give you a little raise.

And that way we could send a little
Sutton to Cousin Lee every month for the

house.

Please.

William, do it for me.

I don't want to die being a maid in
somebody else's home.

I want to live out my days and get
buried in the foothills of the beautiful

Colorado Rocky Mountain.

Oh, Sarah.

I'll try.

I'll try.

I'll ask him, Sarah.

Same place, same person, sir? Same
place, same person. William, I

your discretion in this matter.

Not at all, Mr. Sutton.

Mr. Sutton, sir?

Well, Sarah and I, we haven't forgot how
good you treated us, two Rocky Mountain

hillbillies. Gave us good jobs, a decent
place to stay.

Well, that's perfectly all right,
William.

Well, Sarah and me, you...

We've been talking about maybe in a few
years or so going back up to the

mountains and... Well, perhaps we could
talk about that some other time. I

suspect our friend is waiting for her
honorarium.

Sir? The envelope.

Oh, yes.

Well, I suppose we can talk about that
other matter later.

Good. Good, William.

You sure are a pretty little house.

What's the matter, William?

You did go to Marla Scanlon's apartment?

Yes, sir.

She was there?

Yes, sir.

She wouldn't accept the money?

That's right, sir.

William, I simply can't believe it.

But she's... She's dead.

Dead?

Looked to me like someone strangled her
to death.

I didn't hang around to make sure.

There's a scarf lying next to her and
some mean bruises around her neck.

I see.

She wasn't that same fine -looking
female.

No, sir, lying dead like that on the
living room floor.

No, I imagine not.

Well, she don't look so fine now, Mr.
Sutton.

Was she alone in the apartment?

I reckon I didn't feel the urge to poke
around. I just took a quick look at her

and figured I'd hightail it out of
there.

Well, she was alive three hours ago. She
called me just before I came out here.

I gave you the envelope.

You went to her apartment, found her
dead.

That means she must have been killed
between two and five this afternoon.

There could have been a lot of traffic
in and out of that apartment in that

amount of time, Mr. Sutton.

No, no, not today. Today she was
expecting a caller with an envelope.

Did you see anybody when you came out of
the building?

No, sir.

Did you talk to anybody, phone anybody?

Not at all, Mr. Sutton.

Good.

You're a good man, William.

Thank you, sir. I try to be.

And that'll be all, Mr. Sutton?

Yes, that's all for now.

You can go.

Uh, William.

Meet me in my study in about a half
hour.

A half hour.

Yes, sir.

Uh,

William, you look pale. Are you all
right?

She's dead.

Dead? Dead?

Who's dead?

Miss Marla Scanlon.

That's who.

Oh, I didn't know she was ill.

She wasn't ill.

Not ill? Then how?

Murdered.

Strangled.

Pretty little scar.

Does Mr.

Sutton know?

Yeah, he does.

I told him and I returned the money.

Oh, William, that... was foolish. You
should have kept it and never said a

thing.

They'd have found the tramp sooner or
later. Mr.

Sutton would have had no reason to think
you hadn't just made your usual

delivery.

That money would have made a nice down
payment on Cousin Lee's house.

Hi, Judge. Art Sutton.

I think you better get over to my place
real quick.

That's right.

Right away.

Well, Arch, what's the mystery?

I have a dinner engagement.

Well, you may not want any dinner when
you hear what I've got to say.

Now, to avoid a lot of repetition, let's
wait for the state's attorney to get

here. Bob Greenwich? Now, what's he to
do with this?

Bob?

I just hear my name.

Oh, Judge. Arch.

Well, what have I got to do with what?

I don't understand what's going on.

You will in a minute.

William, would you close the door,
please?

Gentlemen.

Oh, by the way, gentlemen, William is
aware of some of the circumstances of

situation, and he's completely
trustworthy.

Go on, William.

Um...

Miss Marla Scanlon is dead.

Marla Scanlon?

Yes.

How did she die?

Murdered, I reckon.

By what means?

Looked to me like she'd been choked to
death.

When?

Sometime between two and five today.

Well, what makes you think I'd have any
interest in this?

Until, of course, the murderer is
apprehended and I act in an official

I hardly knew Marla Scanlon.

Oh, come off it, Bob.

Marla Scanlon was blackmailing all three
of us. My information tells me she

restricted her activities to just the
three of us. I categorically deny any

involvement. Will you please shut up?

Now, none of us is on trial, not yet.

Now, we are the three who might have
killed her.

And that's reasonably certain that one
of us did.

Judge, she was milking you the longest.

I was the next victim and you were last,
Bob.

Now, between us, over a period of time,
we contributed something like $100 ,000.

It's a pity we didn't tell the income
tax people about all that stashed cash.

They would have taken her off our backs.

And our hides along with it.

How did you find out about this?

About me, I mean.

Oh, Bob, that's a silly question.

It's not difficult when you own two
newspapers and a television station.

Besides, I'm still one of the best
reporters in the business.

All right.

It's laid out among the three of us. We
were her patsies.

Adrift, you might say, in the same leaky
boat.

That remains to be seen whether or not
we have a paddle.

Unfortunately, I don't have an alibi for
the three hours between two and five

this afternoon.

Do you, Bob?

What?

Where were you between two and five this
afternoon?

Well, I was...

on, Bob.

Well, I didn't go in, you understand.

Half a block away, I turned the car. I
didn't go all the way to her apartment.

You went to see Marla Scanlon?

Yes.

I was going to appeal to her, prove to
her I couldn't afford that blackmail

tariff any longer. I was going to
persuade her that she'd just have to be

satisfied with less money or no money at
all.

I just couldn't scrape the cash up
anymore.

I'm not as well -heeled as you two.

But you got cold feet.

You didn't actually see her.

No, and that's the truth, Arch. You've
got to believe me. Whether we believe

or not is of no consequence. The
important thing is you have no alibi.

How about you, Arch?

Well, she called me about two o 'clock
to remind me that it was payday. I sent

William out on his errand and I took a
long walk out in the woods back of my

place and...

In fact, when William found me, I was
examining some ferns.

So, any of the three of us might have
killed her.

Well, I didn't do it.

If this scandal brushes off on me, I'm
ruined.

The three of us are ruined.

You know, there are a lot of people down
at City Hall and police headquarters

who'd love to have our scalps.

And we're not going to hush up anything
as big as murder, even if Hodge does own

the press and the TV.

Not precisely. You know, Bob, sometimes
you almost make me think you have a

mind, along with the cunning you've
shown in the political jungle.

You know, gentlemen, the truth is
there's no way we can cover this thing.

So, Arch, what do you propose?

Well, what I propose is an unbreakable
gentleman's agreement.

Whichever one of the three of us is
nailed will have to bear the brunt of

entire thing.

He can't call on his friends for help.

And he can't implicate them in any way.
He must stand by his statement that he

and he alone was involved with Marla
Scanlon.

Now, the doomed man would at least then
have the satisfaction of knowing that he

shielded his friends.

That might be rough, Arch.

When a man is slapped with a murder
charge, the natural tendency is to name

others to confuse the issue, to direct
suspicion elsewhere. Well, I know.

why I've asked you all to come here. I
think we have to decide in advance. I

think we have to agree that the two who
escape...

We'll stand by the loser's loved ones.

Mr.

Sutton, sir?

Yes, William.

Well, while you all were talking, I was
thinking.

I got an idea.

William, we have more important things
to consider than any ideas you make.

We have nothing to lose by listening. Go
on, William.

Thank you, sir.

Gentlemen, Mr. Sutton has been real good
to me and the wife, Sarah.

Giving us a chance when we first come
down from the Rocky Mountains.

We have no time for these asinine
emotional speeches. I'm sorry, sir.

The speech is done. I just want Mr.
Sutton to know one of the reasons why

I'd be willing to do all of you the
favor.

I'll stand in trial for Marla Scanlon's
murder.

Well, I... I'm touched, William.

But I suspect that you're not finished.

No, sir, Mr. Sutton, not quite.

You see, you three are kind of sitting
on top of the world, so to speak.

I mean, fine homes and families,
reputations,

country clubs and all that sort of
thing.

You stand to lose a whole parcel.

Now, me, all I got is Sarah.

And, well, let's say...

I never did have a chance before to
really put together some real money.

How much?

Well, you've all been paying Miss Marla
Scanlon plenty.

One final payment to me would finish it
all up.

Yeah, if you each just chipped in...
It's about a $10 ,000 piece.

I'd take care of your little problem for
you.

William, how do you propose to do this?

Well, with your newspapers and
television station being on my side, and

Corday here doing the judging, and Mr.
Greenwich here doing the prosecuting,

I should come out all right.

Go on.

Well, I could say that I've been fooling
around with Miss Marla Scanlon, and

she's about to boot me out, and I'd say
that we had a big fight.

And I lost my head and killed her.

Without meaning to.

Nobody's gonna... Nobody's gonna miss
Marla Scanlon around this town.

And nobody's gonna question or suspect
what you do.

I figured Judge will give me three years
for manslaughter.

I'd behave real good and probably be out
on parole within a year.

And then?

I just...

Just take my $30 ,000 and going back to
Colorado.

I don't think any of us has to worry
about any of the others going back on a

deal. On account we're all in this
together.

I figure together we sink or swim.

I think we have a deal.

You think it'll be just a year, you'll
be away.

Well, not any longer than that, Sarah.

Even the judge has self -agreed.

Well, I guess I can manage that time
without you.

Sarah, it was the only way we'd get
enough money to buy Cousin Lee's farm.

How much are they paying you?

Thirty thousand.

A piece?

The lot.

The lot?

I think you made a bad deal, William.

$30 ,000 will hardly pay for Cousin
Lee's farm, and there won't be anything

over to live on.

That's true enough, Sarah.

But this $100 ,000 I got from Marla
Scanlon's wall safe after I strangled

it should do nicely.

Oh, yes, nicely indeed.

I think there'll be a bit left over for
her quiet. Retirement.

In the beautiful Colorado.

Rocky Mountains.

Yes, sir, Sarah.

Well, that $100 ,000 ought to pay for
Cousin Lee's farm even a bit more.

Yes, indeed.

I do believe.