All language subtitles for Perry Mason s04e17 Wintry Wife

It's pretty fantastic, Mr. Randall.

This underwater -sounding equipment
could revolutionize maritime navigation.

Is Nautronics interested?

Yes, definitely.

If the field tests work out, you've got
yourself the deal you asked for.

Thanks, Mr. Johnson, thanks.

Believe me, Nautronics will never be
sorry.

You have your lawyer draw up an
agreement, the way we outlined it, and

me at Nautronics.

We'll set up the field test just as soon
as you're ready.

Good night, Mr. Randall. Good night, Mr.
Johnson.

And thanks.

Thanks again.

Right.

She's getting angry.

They've started dinner without you.
You'd better get home.

Fellas, they're going to buy it.

They're going to buy it.

It's everything we ever dreamed of.

Walter.

Walter, I don't know whether to laugh or
cry.

Did you speak to my husband?

Mr. Randall's leaving now. He's coming
home.

Shall we wait with dessert?

No, we'll finish without him.

Walter, you're over two hours late.

You knew that Roger and Amelia were
coming to dinner tonight, and Bruce.

I'm sorry.

Excuse me, all of you.

Laura, if you're finished, I want to
talk to you alone.

I'm sure that anything you have to say
can be said right here in front of

everyone. Don't get up, please.

I wanted to tell you that I agreed to a
deal tonight to sell my sounding device.

Well, congratulations. Did you buy it,
Bruce?

Wish I had.

No, old friend, Walter here, so fit to
turn down my bid.

I'd like to talk with you, Roger.

Phyllis, would you drive Amelia home,
please?

But Roger and I have tickets for the
theater tonight.

Good night, Amelia.

Hey, you'd better run along. I'll see
you there.

Bruce, would you like my secretary to
drop you off somewhere?

No, thanks.

I have my car.

Good night, everybody.

Good night. Good night.

Well, I'm sure you don't just want my
congratulations, Walter.

Laura, we've both been through enough to
understand the situation.

Must be a very nice thought to you.

That of being financially on your own,
finally.

You know the money isn't the important
thing.

Acceptance of my own field, that's what
I've been working for.

Laura, it's no go.

We haven't had a marriage for ten years.

We both know that.

Laura, I want my freedom, too.

A divorce?

Yes.

Very well, Walter.

You may have your divorce.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Yes, yes, ma 'am.

That invention of Walder's, that device
of his... I want it destroyed.

Do you understand? I want it destroyed.

You know...

tests are completed, one final
acceptance series on the sounding

the Tronic Corporation takes over
complete ownership and title.

That's right, Mr. Mason.

For $250 ,000.

All right, Mr. Randall.

I'll have the contracts drawn up.

Thanks, Mr. Mason.

Miss Street.

Oh, there's just one other thing.

I'm making arrangements to obtain a
divorce.

You know my wife, I believe.

I met her only once.

She's an invalid, isn't she?

That's an impression that Laura does her
best to create.

Ten years ago, on our honeymoon, she
almost froze to death in a blizzard.

She isn't ill, then?

She has a slight circulatory trouble,
but nothing serious beyond being a

cold all the time.

Just cold.

Perpetually cold.

Well, anyway, I'd appreciate your
expediting this matter.

It's all I really meant to say anyway.

The sooner everything is cleared away,
the safer I'll feel.

Oh, it's you.

Roger, Laura's in the house.

Laura's come here?

The invalid can get around pretty well
when she wants to.

And right now, my dear sister wants to
talk to you.

Roger, what is going on? Nothing's going
on. Tell her I'll be right there.

You didn't go to the office this
morning. Instead, you go out and buy a

collection of crazy things. Amelia, it's
got nothing to do with you. Roger, I'm

no fool. Shut up.

Please tell me. Get out of here.

Tell her I'll be right there.

Please. Please, Amelia.

This is Roger.

Listen to me.

Couldn't you possibly get that money
back to me?

But Laura won't wait.

Listen, Bruce, listen.

She's putting pressure on me.

Bruce, wait a minute.

Really,

Roger, you know he couldn't help you.

Laura, I can't do this.

Suppose someone's in the building.

You can't.

Well, then I suppose that you're
prepared to go to jail.

Oh, come now, Roger. No one's ever going
to find out about that little

contraption of yours.

Wrap it up for me.

I have to preset the timing.

8 .30.

I want it set to explode at exactly 8
.30.

Yes, Laura.

8 .30.

Are you warm enough, Mrs. Randall?

I'm never warm enough.

Never mind about the sleeping pills.
I'll take one later.

You told me the doctor ordered you to
take it right away. You might forget.

It's a tablet. I can put it in the milk.

All right.

By the way, while you were at the
drugstore, Mr. Randall called.

That package, it has some important
parts that he needs tonight.

He wanted to know if you'd take it down
to the warehouse.

I can't leave you.

Don't be silly. I'll be perfectly all
right.

I'll go.

But not until you finish that milk.

The drugger said you'd be sound asleep
in 20 or 30 minutes.

That way I won't have to worry about you
while I'm out.

Finish it up.

You'd better hurry, Phyllis. My husband
must be waiting for you.

Is there anything else I can do for you
tonight?

Shall I pull up the quilt?

No, just adjust the heater as you go
out, please.

Oh, yes, this letter to my broker.

You can just catch the last mail if
you'll put it in the post office on your

to the warehouse.

Of course.

Good night, Mrs. Reynolds.

Good night, Phyllis.

Walter?

Walter?

Walter?

Come on, Perry, let's go. It's late and
I'm starving.

Well,

that should do it.

They're signed and ready.

See that Walter Randall gets his copies
in the morning and then I'll...

Actually think the person who struck you
was Laura Randall?

I only caught a glimpse, but it must
have been her.

I don't see how it could be, but it was.

You said a policeman helped you outside.

That's right.

The whole room seemed on fire.

I remember there was some sort of an
explosion where I'd put down the

And then there was the policeman.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in
the alley.

Where did the policeman go?

Back into the building, I guess.

I heard him shouting for anyone who
still might be there.

And then there were the sirens.

Why did you come to me, Miss Hudson?

I didn't know where Walter was.

I remembered that you were his lawyer.

Walter said you'd be working on his
contract tonight.

I took a chance that you might just
still be here.

Maybe someone like you could tell me
what to do.

Mr. Mason, please help me.

All right.

I'd like you to spend the night with
Miss Street.

Paul, first take the girls to the
Randall house, pick up some things for

Hudson, then straight to Della's.

All right, Perry.

I want to look that warehouse over.

I'll meet you all at Della's later.

Unit 71, are you 10 -4?

I don't need anything.

Please, let's get away from here.

Well, good evening, Paul.

Della?

And Miss, um... Phyllis Hudson,
Lieutenant.

We've come to get some of her things.
She's going to spend the night with me.

Oh?

Well, I want Miss Phyllis Hudson for
some questioning tonight.

I'd like to take her downtown with me.

Lieutenant, what's going on here? What
are you talking about?

Mrs. Laura Randall was drugged with
sleeping pills so she wouldn't wake up.

Then, uh, somebody turned on the gas
heater without bothering to light it,

unfortunately, and killed her.

Miss Hudson?

Thursday,

Bart meets the real Batman.

Airs at 4600.

No, Mason.

No bail for Phyllis Hudson.

Then you've booked her.

She's being booked right now, Perry.

I understand the fire department found
pieces of a clock radio in the debris at

the Randall warehouse.

But we didn't find any real evidence of
a time bomb.

Really, Mason, I don't see how you can
hold to the untenable position your

client's putting you in.

The autopsy report clearly shows there
was secobarbital in the victim's body

some time.

Definitely prior to the time she's
supposed to have knocked out your client

the warehouse.

Miss Hudson admitted she gave Laura
Randall a sleeping pill before leaving

Did you know it was the Hudson girl
herself who bought those pills just last

evening? Using an old prescription of
Laura Randall's that hadn't been

for over a year.

I suppose you gentlemen have a motive to
go along with all this.

The best.

Phyllis Hudson was in love with Laura
Randall's husband.

If you're going to be wrong, why not be
consistently wrong?

Why not also arrest Walter Randall?

It's occurred to us. We're looking for
him.

Chamberlain, you're building a case only
on conjecture.

What about the evidence of two
witnesses?

Witnesses? Putting Phyllis Hudson at the
scene of the crime.

Mr. Bruce...

Sheridan and a Miss Judith Baldwin just
driving up. Both clearly saw Phyllis

Hudson run out of the Randall house 45
minutes after the fire in the warehouse.

Check all the industrial and
institutional chemists. I want to know

the seven people whose pictures are in
these envelopes bought a quantity of red

phosphorus within the past month.

Red phosphorus?

Like to use on matches?

And firebombs. Now, to transistorize
clock radio, you not only have a

but a time bomb.

Hello, Faulkner.

We finally found it.

This salesman identified one of the
pictures as the person he sold the

red phosphorus to the day before
yesterday.

Good. Which one?

This is the one.

Yes.

I bought the phosphorus.

And you made a firebomb? Yes.

For whom did you make it?

Laura Randall.

She forced me to.

She threatened to turn me over to the
police.

For what?

Phillips handled his sister -in -law's
business affairs.

And from what I can smell out, none too
well.

What was it, Phillips?

Embezzlement?

A forged check.

Something came up.

Something big. I had a chance to make a
killing.

Look, I didn't take that bomb to the
warehouse. I don't know who did.

I had nothing to do with Laura's death.

I wouldn't kill her.

All right, Trike, book him.

Forgery, grand theft, larceny, suspicion
of arson.

That ought to be enough to hold him for
a while.

What about Mason's client, the Hudson
girl?

The only question in my mind is whether
the murder was plotted and carried out

by her and Walter Randall or just by her
alone.

Now that your men have located Randall,
we ought to know the answer to that

pretty quick.

You must be mistaken. Walter Randall's
been on this boat with us 24 hours a day

for the past two days.

Doing what? Just completing the field
test on his sounding device.

It's even better than we hoped.

Autronics will be in production inside a
month.

I thought his device was burned in the
workshop fire.

Fire?

What are you gentlemen talking about?

Randall must have had the device taken
out of the workshop and put on board

the afternoon of the fire.

A fact which Phyllis Hudson obviously
didn't know.

How soon will you have Randall up?

He should be coming up now.

Kill Laura?

The whole thing's incredible.

Phyllis wouldn't hurt anybody, much less
kill.

No, no, no, it's impossible.

You were in San Diego last month?

Yes. I went to see the Navy about my new
device.

They couldn't do anything about it at
the time.

He wrote a letter to Phyllis Hudson from
San Diego.

Is this a copy of that letter?

Yes.

Where did you find it?

In your wife's desk, locked up with her
private papers.

Noctronics are last hope. If they say
no, I have no choice but to stay with

Laura. As long as Laura's alive, there's
no hope of a life together for us

Phyllis dear.

I guess that's enough.

Well, Randall, you may have an alibi,
but we've got Phyllis Hudson nailed.

No! She couldn't!

She not only could, but I'm prepared to
prove, and in court, she's the only

person who could have killed her.

Sounds pretty good to me.

This is great, Dion.

Let's see the next one. ...choice is
Luskin's The Cheapest Guy in Town.

Doctor, did your autopsy reveal anything
else of significance?

The body of Laura Randall showed the
presence of cecobarbital, which...

depressed the nervous system, lowered
resistance, and hastened the onset of

death.

I would say that death occurred
somewhere between 9 and 10 o 'clock in

evening.

Mr. Sheridan and I stopped to visit Mrs.
Randall.

We just pulled up when we saw Phyllis
Hudson run out of the side door, get

a car, and drive away.

Now, what time was that, Miss Baldwin?

Oh, about a quarter after... 20 after 9.

Mm -hmm.

Now, what happened then?

We went up to the front door. It was
locked.

We tried to get in, but we couldn't.

The lights were on, but no one answered
when we rang.

Well, what did you do then?

Bruce, uh, Mr.

Sheridan and I dove over to Mr. Roger
Phillips' house, got a key from Mrs.

Phillips, then drove back to the Randall
house.

Now, what time was it then?

Oh, just about 10 o 'clock.

I see.

Please, go on.

When we went inside, we smelled the gas
immediately.

Laura was in bed.

We opened the windows.

to clear the room, and then we waited
for it to air out.

Now, who telephoned for the police?

I did.

Mr. Sheridan sent me to the gas station
two blocks away.

He said I shouldn't touch anything in
the house.

Thank you.

You may cross.

Now, Miss Baldwin, prior to your
arriving at the decedent's house at 9

where were you?

With Mr. Sheridan.

We were spending the evening together.

You spent every minute with him until
you both discovered the body?

Yes. Every single minute.

Without exception.

Thank you.

That's all.

She was dead, all right.

The first thing I did was to throw open
the window in her room and turn off the

gas without touching the control knob.

Then I sent Judy to the service station
to phone the police.

When you first arrived at the Randall
house, it was about 20 minutes after 9.

And when you finally got inside the
house, it was about 10 o 'clock. Are

time elements correct?

Yes.

Thank you.

Cross -examine.

Mr. Sheridan, you said you parked
outside the Randall house and just sat

for a few minutes.

Yes, we were listening to a news
broadcast, waiting for it to finish.

You saw Phyllis Hudson run out the side
door.

Yes.

Now, during that time... One, two, five,
even ten people could have come and

gone through the back door, and you
wouldn't have been any the wiser. Isn't

so?

I'm afraid not, Mr. Mason.

Why not?

Well, we could also see the back door
from where I was parked. We were across

the street.

It's a corner lot.

But while you were gone for a key,
someone could have entered or left the

without your knowledge, wouldn't you
say?

Yes, I suppose so.

Naturally. Thank you, Mr. Sheridan.

Now, Lieutenant Tragg, you've testified
that the defendant purchased the bottle

of sleeping pills, that her fingerprints
were on that bottle and on the glass,

and also on the heater knob itself.

That's right.

Were there any other fingerprints on
that heater knob?

Only Miss Hudson's.

Clear and unsmudged.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Cross -examine.

Since Phyllis Hudson was Laura Randall's
secretary, almost a nurse to her.

Would you say that finding her
fingerprints on that bottle was unusual?

No.

Is it your expert opinion, then,
Lieutenant, that because Laura Randall's

was caused by escaping gas, someone
turned that heater off, then on,

by using that control knob?

That's right.

Now, if the central gas supply was
interrupted from the gas main in the

for instance, that could have caused
the...

Gas to go off, then on without the use
of the control knob, could it not?

Yes, it could.

An interruption like that would put out
the pilot lights on all the gas

appliances in the house.

And in this case?

No, sir.

They were all on.

Thank you. No further questions.

Well, Laura had found and stolen a
letter from Phyllis Hudson's room.

She told me about it.

She said she knew that her husband and
Phyllis were in love.

Now, Mr. Phillips, I believe that you
stated your sister -in -law, the murder

victim in this case, was a very
possessive woman?

Yes, and very jealous.

Now, would you please relate to the
court what took place in the Randall

on the afternoon preceding the day of
the murder?

Well, as I was entering the study,
Phyllis Hudson came out of Laura's room.

She was crying.

She was almost hysterical.

I, uh...

I tried to calm the girl down.

Laura could be a nasty tyrant.

Phyllis... Phyllis was very upset.

She called Laura an evil woman.

She said the world and everybody in it
would be better off with Laura Randall

dead. An evil woman, better off dead.

Your witness.

Mr. Phillip.

You participated in arson because your
sister -in -law had been blackmailing

you.

Yes, I did.

You had forged her name to a check.

Yes. For an investment that collapsed.

Yes. Now, according to your testimony,
you telephoned Mr. Bruce Sheridan on the

day of the murder in the hopes of
getting some of that money back.

When that failed, you committed a second
crime to cover up the first.

Yes, I told all that to the district
attorney.

Why not a third crime to cover up the
first two? Why not murder?

The murder of Laura Randall.

No, no, no. I didn't kill her.

No further questions.

It was about 9 .35 or 40 when Bruce came
and got the key and went back to

Laura's house.

I was worried, so I called there, but of
course no one answered.

Where was your husband during all this
time?

He was in the garage in his workshop.

Did he leave the promises any time
between 9 and 10 o 'clock?

Didn't leave that evening or that night.

Thank you.

That's all.

Mr. Mason.

Mrs. Phillips, were you afraid of your
sister?

Yes, I think I was.

She was a wicked woman.

Every life she touched, she destroyed.

Just as she was destroying Walter.

Phyllis. And your husband.

And my husband.

Perhaps you were afraid of Laura not for
yourself, but for your husband.

You wanted to protect him.

Yes, that's true.

I knew that she and Roger were deeply
involved in something bad.

That's why I hired the detective.

You hired a detective?

Thank you, that's all.

Well, now, just a moment. The witness
stated... Your Honor, I have a question

redirect.

Mrs. Phillips, who was this detective
you hired?

He was a private detective.

His name is Ben Penner.

May it please the court, I'll call this
Ben Penner to the stand right now.

Mrs. Phillips wanted the Randall house
kept under surveillance.

A check made on who came and went,
particularly her husband.

And were you on duty the night of the
murder, Mr. Penner? Yes, sir, I was.

And did you keep a record of who came
and went on that night? I did.

Mr. Penner, would you please read that
record to the court, starting, let's

at 8 o 'clock?

Well, let's see.

8 .10, Phyllis Hudson left the house
carrying a package.

8 .12, Mrs. Randall left the house
hurriedly.

And no activity until 8 .44 when Mrs.
Randall came back.

Was there anything unusual about Mrs.
Randall when she returned?

Again, she was in a hurry.

She also staggered slightly, as though
drunk or under the influence of drugs.

That's all.

Please continue.

9 .13, Phyllis Hudson returned pretty
messed up.

Hmm?

Disheveled, I mean.

At 9 .17, Mr. Sheridan and his
girlfriend drove up, parked across the

9 .20, Phyllis Hudson ran out, drove
away.

Two minutes later, Sheridan and his girl
left. They never got inside the house.

Then nobody until 9 .57.

Sheridan and his girlfriend came back
with a key, let themselves in.

10 o 'clock... Never mind continuing,
Mr. Penner. I just want to get one thing

straight. Now, all the time you were
watching this house, could anybody have

entered or left it without your
noticing?

No, sir, they couldn't.

Then from the time that Laura Randall
returned at 8 .44 until almost 10 o

'clock... When Bruce Sheridan unlocked
that door and let himself inside, was

there anyone, not anyone at all, Mr.
Penner, with the exception of Phyllis

Hudson, who went in or out of that
house?

No, sir. Just her. Just the defendant.

Thank you, Mr. Penner. Thank you very
much. Cross -examine. No question.

Your Honor, the state contends it has
established a prima facie case and moves

that the defendant be bound over for
trial.

I object, Your Honor.

Defense has been given no opportunity to
present a case challenging the

credulity or accuracy of the
prosecution's evidence.

The state's motion is premature.

I move it not be granted.

The hour is late, gentlemen.

Both motions will be taken under
advisement.

As court is now adjourned, we'll
reconvene at 9 o 'clock tomorrow

Rust flakes and strip threading, both
fresh and recent.

Not another single blessed thing. I'm
sorry, Perry.

Sorry for what?

This is exactly what I hoped you would
find.

It is?

Mm -hmm.

Paul, I'd like you to charter a
helicopter.

A helicopter?

Where are we going?

I'll fill you in on that later. We'll
need it for tomorrow.

Perry, we're in court tomorrow.

Yes, I know.

In 1988, the D .C. police received 18...
In the presentation of a prima facie

case, the court, in a preliminary
hearing, will not weigh evidence or

conflicts in the evidence, but will
merely bind the defendant over for

However, in the interest of justice, the
court feels that the present case

merits the fullest possible presentation
of evidence.

A motion to bind at this time is
therefore denied.

Now, Mr. Chamberlain, have you any other
witnesses?

Yes, Your Honor.

Mr. Walter Randall.

Call Walter Randall to the stand,
please.

Mr. Walter Randall, take the stand.

Of course we spent a good deal of time
together.

Everyone knew that.

Mr. Randall, the court has ruled you a
hostile witness, so please just answer

the questions yes or no.

Are you and Phyllis Hudson in love?

I can only speak for myself.

Yes, I'm in love with her.

Now, Mr. Randall, did you and Phyllis
Hudson ever discuss the possibility of

doing away with your wife?

Of course not. And yet you admit writing
that letter from San Diego? I'll put it

to you this way, Mr.

Randall.

Did you and Phyllis Hudson ever discuss
the fact that your problems would be

solved if Laura were out of the way?

Yes, that's only natural. And there were
two problems, weren't there, Mr.

Randall? The means of supporting a
possible second wife, plus the fact that

were still married to your first wife.

And then suddenly it seemed that both of
your problems were going to be solved.

Your wife promised to give you a divorce
and you were about to sell your

invention.

Yes, that's correct.

Now, Mr. Randall, did you ever say
anything, make a call, leave a note, do

anything at all that would make it
possible for Phyllis Hudson to know that

had removed your underwater device from
the warehouse and taken it to sea for

testing?

No.

Then when Phyllis Hudson was in that
burning warehouse, neither you nor the

Nautronics people had said or done
anything that would alter her obvious

that the invention, your invention that
meant so much to both of you, was being

destroyed.

No.

Destroyed by the woman who had just
tried to kill her.

The woman who stood between her and the
man that she loved and wanted to marry.

You can make anything sound bad. You can
twist a good, kind person to a monster

if you use the right word.

I withdraw the question.

Your witness.

Why would your wife have wanted to
destroy your underwater device, Mr.

I don't know.

To hold me, perhaps.

And you didn't want that?

I wanted my freedom more than anything
else in the world.

Enough to kill for it?

Enough to kill for it. Without getting
into the very complex nature of your

underwater navigational device, Mr.
Randall, could you tell us if among its

other components it contains a radio
transmitter?

The secondary function of the device
does involve a small transmitter, yes.

Is the purpose of that transmitter to
assist in remote control?

Such as, let us say, the remote control
used to change channels in a home

television set?

That's scarcely analogous, Mr. Mason.

Except, of course, they both do and can
use radio to activate a motor.

You send a signal, it's received, it
starts the motor going.

That's right.

You could also, for instance, install a
motorized valve in a gas pipe, could you

not?

Motorized valve in a gas pipe?

So that from a distance it would be
possible to send a radio signal that

turn the gas in that pipe on or off.

I don't know.

Perhaps you could do that.

With the court's indulgence, I would
like to present a demonstration that may

help the witness answer more positively.

Now, Mr. Chamberlain?

I object most strenuously, Your Honor. I
feel Mr. Mason is trying to turn this

hearing into a public circus.

Objection is overruled.

Now, the court is interested in a
further development of this line of

You may proceed with your demonstration,
Mr. Mason.

Here is an old -fashioned gas heater
exactly like the one in Laura Randall's

bedroom.

This is a standard gas hose which
connects the gas source to the heater.

Here is a valve which will turn on or
shut off the gas to the hose.

Here is a radio -controlled motor.

Mr. Bailiff, will you light the heater,
please?

Now, Mr. Randall, what was the
approximate distance from the boat you

the night of the murder to your house in
town? In a straight line, that is.

Oh, about 35 miles.

Mason calling.

Can you hear me, Mr. Drake?

Repeat. Can you hear me, Paul?

Come in.

Hello, this is Paul Drake.

I read you loud and clear.

Will you tell us where you are, please?

I'm with pilot Nate Tiger.

We're in a helicopter flying at 5 ,000
feet, approximately 40 miles from the

courthouse. We're ready when you are,
Perry.

May I direct the court's attention to
the gas heater?

All right, Paul, I'm starting the
countdown.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

First the valve is turned off.

Then the flame dies.

Then the unlit gas back on again.

Please.

All right, Paul. Thank you.

Mr. Randall, you saw the demonstration.

Is your sounding device capable of
broadcasting a signal which would do the

thing? No!

It would never have occurred to me to
adapt something like that.

No, and I didn't kill Laura.

And I have enslaved ten years to develop
a highly complex electronic

navigational device just as a gimmick to
kill people.

You're wrong.

Absolutely wrong.

Your Honor, if I may be permitted to
interrupt my cross -examination of this

witness, I would like to recall a
witness.

Another electronics expert who should be
able to clear up the question of the

technical adaptability of a device of
this kind to the modus operandi of the

crime.

Mr. Chamberlain? No objection, Your
Honor.

The witness may step down for now.

Call your witness, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Bruce Sheridan.

Mr. Bruce Sheridan, understand?

Yes, I'm reasonably familiar with
Walter's sounding device.

You are aware of the type and frequency
of signal required to activate a

motorized valve in a gas pipe in the
Randall home?

I think so, yes.

Such a valve could be quite simple,
quite small.

That's right.

It would have been no problem, then, for
Walter Randall to have killed his wife

literally by remote control.

No problem.

Would you say anyone familiar with basic
electronics could have done it?

Well, now, I'm not sure.

Could you have killed Laura Randall in
such a manner?

I beg your pardon, sir.

Mr. Sheridan, we've heard about a bad
investment made by Roger Phillips with a

forged check.

And whose company was that bad
investment made?

Mine. You know that. It's no secret.

And your company was all but bankrupt by
the withdrawal of a defense contract.

Roger invested money with me and lost
it. But that's got nothing to do with

Laura's death.

It was Laura's money.

Illegally given to you, irresponsibly
lost by you.

Perhaps Laura wasn't threatening only
Roger.

Perhaps she was threatening you.

Threatening to take over your company,
throw you out.

I resent that. It's complete nonsense.

If things were starting to pick up,
there would have been plenty of money.

You were able to manage Roger, but not
Laura.

Wasn't it then you decided to kill her?

Wasn't it then you got into the Randall
home and installed a motorized valve in

that gas pipe?

I certainly did not.

Somebody did, Mr. Sheridan.

If not you, who could have done it?

What about Roger?

Sure, sure, he made the bomb. He could
have installed that motorized valve.

Or even Amelia.

Or Walter.

Yes, Walter Randall lived in the house.

He could have put it in.

After all, you just proved that he could
have sent that radio signal.

Yes, he could have, Mr. Sheridan.

Except for one thing.

Mr. Johnson, would you please stand?

This gentleman, Mr. Sheridan, is from
the Neutronics Company.

He's prepared to take the stand and
testify that the self -contained

in the underwater device were being
recharged without interruption from 7 o

'clock on the night of the murder until
past midnight.

And without power in that underwater
device, it was physically impossible for

Walter Randall to have transmitted any
radio signal.

All right, all right, so he didn't send
the radio signal.

Can you prove that he didn't install
that motorized valve? Can you prove that

any of them didn't do it?

The question, Mr. Sheridan, is not who
installed the valve, but who removed it.

I have here in these envelopes, Your
Honor, physical evidence I'm prepared to

introduce and authenticate.

Flakes of rust, newly scraped, stripped
threading from a galvanized iron pipe.

A single gas pipe leaving the main line
in the Randall basement, going directly

to the bedroom of Laura Randall.

A gas pipe I can prove was just recently
tampered with.

You can authenticate this?

Yes, Your Honor.

Someone recently worked on this gas pipe
in the Randall home, and my

investigator has learned that there
hasn't been an authorized plumber out

for more than a year.

Now, as I recall, the police testimony
made no mention of anything unusual

the gas pipes.

Exactly.

The police reported finding nothing
unusual.

And the police in this city are both
efficient and thorough.

Therefore, whoever installed that valve
must also have had time to remove it,

and before the police got there.

Walter Randall couldn't have done that,
Mr. Sheridan.

He was aboard a boat, remember?

That still doesn't prove that I did it.

Mr. Sheridan, why did you park outside
the house?

Why were you so anxious to be the first
to enter and discover the body? Why did

you invent a pretext to send Judy
Baldwin out to call the police?

So you and only you could remove the
valve you had installed to kill Laura

Randall.

Yes.

I killed her.

I had to.

She poisoned everybody's life she
touched.

Destroyed them.

She was going to destroy me.

Take away everything I had.

Everything I ever worked for.

Funny, isn't it?

Roger.

Amelia.

Walter.

Philip. Me.

Any one of us had reason to kill her.

But I guess the others couldn't do it.

Right, Abe?

America's Most Wanted. His wife
threatened to walk on Fox 5.

All right, I'll tell him.

Bye.

Perry said to go ahead without him. He'd
be a few minutes late.

You know, I still don't understand how
Mr. Mason got onto the whole idea of how

it was done.

Well, the idea of a murder gadget or a
deadly device was just a faint

possibility originally.

But then when the prosecution proved
that no one else came in or out of the

house, Perry just had to assume that
maybe they were right.

In which case, the killer just had to be
Bruce Sheridan. Also, he had a two -way

radio in his car.

Yes, his girlfriend said he was tuning
in a radio, remember?

They were up on Mulholland where the
transmission's good.

And at the time he sent the signal, it
killed your wife.

His girlfriend was sitting right beside
him without the faintest idea of what he

was up to. He figured she'd be a pretty
good alibi for him, of course.

That's right.

It's all pretty obvious.

Well, anyway, it's all pretty obvious
now.

If I told you I could save my life, Just
by putting on my sun... Call now.

Thursday on Married with Children. When
Al's car bites the dust, he's ready to

wheel and deal for a new Bundy -mobile.

He's a car dealer's dream come true on
Married with Children, Thursday at 7 on

Fox 5.