All language subtitles for Perry Mason s07e05 Decadent Dean

Get out of here. Back!

We're ready to finish our project on
Walt Whitman.

Suppose we now review some of the
distinguishing features of the poet.

Do you want to start, John?

Well, he sort of spoke up when his
country needed him most.

You know, Dr. Stewart, when the Civil
War split the country?

Yes. In the realm of ideas, Whitman
stressed unity.

What else?

Perkins? He went looking for his
brother, found him on the battlefield,

nursed him back to health.

After that, he became a medical aide to
the Union Army.

Yes, I think we can say that both as a
thinker and a doer, Whitman's life can

be... Dr.

Stewart. Why, Mrs. Perkins.

I must speak to you at once.

Of course, Mrs. Perkins, of course.

Continue with the assignment.

Well, uh, what's wrong, Mrs. Perkins?

Twice. Twice I wrote you letters
demanding an explanation of the material

used to teach here. You ignored those
letters.

Letters? Oh, don't act so surprised.

Other mothers wrote you. You ignored
them, too.

The man was right.

What man?

The man who called me.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

Poetry, you call it.

Well, I call it filth.

Oh, now, come now, Mrs. Perkins. You
couldn't possibly say that now that

read the poem.

Read it? I didn't read it, but I... But
the man who called, was he man enough to

give you his name?

As a matter of fact, he didn't, but...
But still you let yourself become

panicked by an anonymous crank call.

That's a new concept in justice, isn't
it, Mrs. Perkins?

Guilty until proven innocent.

And of all the innocent poems... This
isn't a courtroom. It's a private school

where I pay for the privilege of being
arbitrary.

I'm taking my son out of this school at
once.

Bruce!

You come with me. Mom, what's this all
about? Never mind.

Come with me at once.

Oh, Dr. Stewart.

Later, Janet. Please, I'm busy at the
moment. Oh, you must listen to me now.

must. I'm sorry you appear an insistent
pest about this thing, but I simply

cannot fulfill our science program if I
don't have the visual aids I was

promised. I've told you half a dozen
times, Janet. Those materials were

weeks ago. That's what you keep saying,
and I keep rearranging my lesson plan,

waiting. Now, I'm not so sure they were
ordered.

Janet, this hasn't been a particularly
good day for me. I'm not trying to

you or your problems, but please.

Oh, I'm sorry. I...

Oh, there must be some sort of financial
problems with the visual aids not

coming and my salary not paid, but...
Salary not paid?

Oh, maybe just some sort of mistake, but
my last month's salary check... No, I

haven't received it yet, but... I'll
speak to you later, Janet. Excuse me.

I heard he called.

Mr. Ogden from this side. It's all
right.

There was a cancellation, and he can
give us a room for the weekend.

A whole weekend together, just the two
of us.

I keep pinching myself. I can't believe
it.

First time in four years, Chuck.

And at Cliffside.

When the call came in, we had to anchor
Marion down to keep her from going

straight up into orbit. What happened to
the letters Bruce Perkins' mother wrote

to me?

What? Now, what about the visual aid
material I ordered for Janet Gwynn's

Where is it?

Darling, I just told you something.
Marion, please, I want those letters

They must be someplace in the office.

All right, all right. I know I put some
letters in here somewhere.

Visual aids?

Oh, and why hasn't Janet got her check
yet?

Got what? You heard me, her paycheck.

Janet still hasn't her last month's pay.

Oh, darling, no.

You must have made at least a hundred
mistakes this past month.

Well, it was your idea. I pinch -hit his
secretary.

At least there is enough money now to
pay your teachers.

This place isn't nearly as messed up as
you seem to think it is. Oh, Marion,

stop it.

It's just that here's the whole school
collapsing around our heads, and there

you are dreaming about Cliffside.

Well, never mind.

I'll find what I want myself.

This is the Perkins folder, but there's
not a word in it.

Married.

Why didn't you stop her? She's your
wife.

Not my wife. This.

This. What?

I'm talking about Mrs. Perkins.

That woman came storming into my class
with some absurd, hysterical accusations

I never heard about.

And proceeded to drag her son out of
school for good, Tobin.

Now that's the fifth student withdrawal
we've had this month.

Aaron, that woman spoke to me when she
came in.

I knew she was upset, all right, but I
didn't know she was ready to slam the

ball out of the park. How could I?

Crystal gazing isn't a required subject
for gym teachers, Aaron.

So don't snap Chuck's head off, too. As
I did my wife's. Okay.

Sweating out the news about the
foundation fund endowment has us all a

edgy.

But even so, knowing what Marion's been
through... Well, if she were my wife,

I'd... Well, she isn't your wife, is
she, Tobin?

Hey, Aaron.

That's all right, Chuck.

That's exactly the kind of thing you
expect your best friend to say to you.

Oh, I didn't mean to.

So... There you are.

Two thousand dollars.

Thank you, Aaron.

I hope this isn't...

I mean, your creditors. Is the shoe
getting a little tight?

Well, you can run a prep school like
ours to make money or to make well

-educated young people. To do both is an
outside source of financial backing.

Well, the foundation fund endowment.

That could do it. Well, if they knew you
like I know you, Aaron, there wouldn't

be any question about it.

Of course, you could lessen the pressure
on this quite a bit if you wanted to.

Oh, that real estate deal.

Oh, the man's still willing to trade for
your place.

I've told you, no.

If it's the last thing I do, I'll make
Manzano Valley Prep work.

Well, if that's the case, this won't
help very much. But, Mr.

Forrest, that's our mortgage payment.

Well, it can wait for another month.

By then, you'll have your endowment.

In the meantime, I imagine this $2 ,000
would be a reasonable cushion between

you and those restless creditors.

You won't be sorry, Mr. Forrest. I
promise you.

Harvey Forrest, may I help you?

Well, yeah.

As a matter of fact, he's here right
now. Would you like to... All right,

tell him.

It's a Miss Della Street trying to
locate you.

Well, that's Perry Mason's secretary.

The endowment.

He's got news about the endowment.

There's a man from the fund with Mason
right now. They're waiting for you in

office. Well, I'd better run.

Oh, Aaron.

Good luck.

As the fund's representative, I can
assure you that you'll get your answer

enough, Dr. Stewart.

But there are some things I must know
first.

You've asked the same question to
receive the same answers over and over

It can't be any secret. I'd just like to
know where we stand.

Let me ask you a question I haven't
asked before.

Is it true that your school is virtually
insolvent?

That you're on the verge of filing for
bankruptcy?

Who told you a thing like that of all
the... Aaron.

Mr. Ryan, as trustee for the estate that
created the school, I can assure you

that Manzana Valley Prep School is
basically down.

Dr. Stewart has consistently poured
profits back into improving his school

facilities. Don't misunderstand me, Mr.
Mason.

I'm not questioning Dr. Stewart's
complete honesty in applying for the

endowment. It's just that... Somebody
has smeared my name and reputation, and

you're here to check it. That's part of
my job, Dr. Stewart.

There's another matter.

A more serious matter.

The Foundation funds special student
examinations.

Do you have the results?

How did we do?

I have the results.

Yes.

300 students from 100 California schools
took the special examinations.

Your students, Dr. Stewart, all three of
them, failed.

What?

I don't believe it. I'm sorry, but it's
true.

That and, well, the fact that someone
anonymously, he thinks, has been sending

us derogatory information about you and
your school.

I think you're having trouble at
Manzana.

And frankly, if I were you, I'd look
pretty close to home to find out the

who might be causing it.

They all failed.

Failed? Oh, that's impossible.

Why, those were three of the brightest
kids I ever taught. Well, it happened,

and I'm going to find out. Well, I'm
sure they were well prepared. They did

the special homework.

You made them read everything listed in
the blue books?

The blue books?

Those guide sheets the fund sent out.

Well, the reading list was all on the
typed notes.

Oh, it wasn't. It was in the blue books.
Well, he told me you checked it over

yourself. He?

Tobin Wade.

This is Tobin's desk.

You're going to help the file start
going through.

Sure.

What are we looking for?

To begin with, a folder full of blue
information books with a foundation on

Stop looking.

Chuck.

Chuck.

Assign from here. Where else would Tobin
keep papers, important papers?

Well, not in his place out in the tank,
if that's what you mean.

Look, if Tobin's mislaid something...
Hey, that's a blue book.

So then, what are you doing here?

Getting a drink.

But you know that... I know, I know,
and... I'm sorry, you're just going to

to find another monument to your
abstinence. I need this.

What is it? What's wrong?

I got a call from Chuck.

It seems he walked into the office and
found my esteemed friend, your husband,

going through my desk like a thief.

I don't believe it.

Then try this on for size.

Chuck also informs me that the good
doctor's steward has just fired me.

That's ridiculous. He couldn't fire you.

Not Aaron.

I'll call him and we'll clear this up
here and now.

You don't really think that'll help, do
you?

Now, the Aaron we knew, he couldn't and
wouldn't fire me. But it's not the same

Aaron anymore, is it?

Do I have to tell you that he's changed?

Sick. He's way off his track.

That isn't true. No, isn't it?

Remember the old times we had at my
papanga shack?

I mean, before Manzana Prep.

Just the three of us.

Friends to the bitter end, we even swore
an oath on it. Or you could belt them

with the best then.

On the juice of the grape.

We swore it.

He's been so busy.

For Pete's sake, Marion, wake up. He
doesn't need me.

He doesn't need you.

He doesn't need anybody or anything, but
his precious school, it's the only

thing he cares about.

No, you're wrong.

He'll tell you himself you're wrong.
Whatever the misunderstanding is,

Whatever it is, he won't listen to my
side of it.

He's got to have someone to blame his
troubles on, that's all.

He's listening to nobody but his own
imagination.

Why don't I wait and talk to him
tomorrow when we're at Cliffside? He'll

relaxed, won't he?

Well, I know he'll listen to me. You
won't be at Cliffside tomorrow.

What?

That's right. He's not taking you.

I heard him tell Chuck myself.

He said, quote, call up and cancel that
silly reservation.

Well, tomorrow is a double anniversary.

Sure, I know. One year since you took
your last drink.

It's... It's my wedding anniversary.

Happy anniversary.

I looked who left hours ago. Where's
Jenkins?

Doing some shopping for your wife.

He asked me to close up and I thought
I'd better hang around. I mean, you find

what you're looking for? More than I
expected.

Look at these.

Letters from Mrs. Perkins.

From the other mothers.

I don't understand.

Here. Unless the parents checked off.

Wade knew of these letters.

He knew because he was the man who made
the phone calls to the parents.

He was the man behind all the school's
troubles.

Wayne? Tobin Wayne?

Deliberate sabotage. Proof.

Every one of these papers tells part of
the story.

He wanted to destroy me. Destroy the
school.

That doesn't make sense. Why?

I don't know why.

Don't worry.

I'll find out.

Just put the groceries away.

Managed to fix that kitchen cabinet
while I had the chance. Say, Doc, Mrs.

Stewart, she's all right now, isn't she?

All right?

She looks sort of, you know, sort of
sick -like when she left with Mr. Wade.

Say, Doc, did I say something?

Hey, Doc.

What's the matter?

Did they say where they were going?

Oh, I'm not at all sure. Where did they
go?

Oh, I guess I did hear Mr. Wake say
something about a cliffside. Is there a

place called Cliffside?

I'm glad you got here.

Let the husband take charge, I say.

You got us a drink, knowing she was
sick, knowing what it would do to her.

You got her to drink while you're out of
your mind? Hey, Aaron! Come on now, let

go! Aaron!

Tobin!

Yes, sir. Can I help you?

You'd better arrest me.

I just killed a man.

I shall give life for life, eye for eye.

But while signing the confession,
insisting on pleading guilty, I think we

afford to be less harsh, Dr. Stewart.

At tomorrow's preliminary hearing, I
shall ask that you be bound over on a

charge of voluntary manslaughter.

I'll be representing Dr. Stewart in
court, Mr. Baxter.

Strictly pro forma.

Just introduce the confession and...
Well, good morning, gentlemen.

All right.

Not as simple as the prosecutor says.

We have our work cut out for us.

Why? I was fighting with a man.

He fell and died. That means I killed
him. Because nothing can change that.

No, not after you signed that confession
when you agreed to plead guilty.

Doctor, why didn't you call Perry first?

What difference does it make?

I don't know yet.

But tomorrow at the preliminary hearing,
I want you to put yourself in my hands

without reservation.

Whatever you say.

He must have arched out and down into
the surf.

Doc Stewart saw him in the water,
remember?

Before the tide washed the body out to
sea.

Sheriff, did a guy fall off that cliff
and live?

You've got to be kidding, Drake.

That surf and those rocks and that tide?

Would you like to dive down and try it?

Thanks, but no thanks.

Well, if you need anything, just get in
touch.

All right. I've got a tip that the
sheriff's boys were about to bring Wade

for questioning before he died.

They wanted some dame to identify Wade
for something he'd done several months

ago. I don't know what it was, but
apparently he had an accomplice

In homicide, you know exactly what
corpus delicti means.

Oh, by this time.

It's proof that someone is dead and that
the death was criminally caused by

someone else. Actually, it don't even
need a body.

Just the substantial fact that homicide
has been committed.

But isn't that Stewart's confession? His
agreeing to a guilty plea?

Perry, they've never recovered a body
off that coast.

Back to a good phone in this case and
have Stewart bound over for trial.

I wonder.

Doctor and Mrs. Stewart have been
visitors at my cliffside resort many

So, of course, Mr. Ogden, you recognized
the defendant when he drove in looking

for his wife.

Oh, yes.

She was, uh, well, rather upset in the
cocktail lounge, crying and not feeling

well. So I took her to one of the rooms.

And Dr. Stewart came in. He asked where
the man was that brought her to the

place. And did you tell him who that
was?

Yes. I said it was Mr. Wade.

He'd bought her the drinks and all.

What else did you tell him?

Well, I told him just what this Tobin
Wade told me.

That he was going for a walk out to the
bluff.

That the lady or anybody looked for him
to say that they could find him out

there. And what did Dr. Stewart do then?

He headed straight out to the bluff.

Sure, Vincent.

That same night after the accused, Dr.
Aaron Stewart appeared at your office

made certain representations.

What did you do?

I went to your office, the county
prosecutor's office.

At my office, was Dr. Stewart induced to
enter a guilty plea or make the

confession he did under compulsion or by
inflection of threats or by physical

abuse or by prolonged interrogation
under such circumstances as to render

confession involuntary?

Absolutely not.

This document, People's Exhibit 1 for
identification, bears the signature of

Stewart and two witnesses.

This confession by Dr. Ernst Stewart.
Would you read it, please, George?

Your Honor, I object to the evidence on
the ground that it is hearsay.

Come now, Mr. Mason.

Under law, the statement is clearly
admissible as the voluntary confession

the defendant.

An extrajudicial confession made outside
this court.

Once his guilty plea is entered, that of
itself constitutes a judicial

confession. He has not yet entered a
plea of guilty.

No such guilty plea will be entered.

But we had an understanding that...
Possibly you had an understanding.

But that was before defendant consulted
with counsel.

All right, gentlemen, never mind.

But exactly where does that leave us?

20, American jurisprudence, evidence
section 1234.

The state must prove the corpus delicti
independent of the defendant's

confession, beyond a reasonable doubt,
by evidence other than the confession of

the accused.

Mr. Mason, this is a preliminary
hearing.

The proof required to hold a person to
answer need not equal that to support a

conviction.

Establish your corpus delicti, Mr.

Prosecutor. Proof, one, that a man has
died, and two, that someone is

responsible for that death.

Then, and only then, may the court
inquire as to who is the criminal.

But there is no further evidence at this
time, Your Honor.

Your Honor, I will this action be
dismissed.

The constitutional guarantee of due
process of law...

requires adherence to the adopted and
recognized rules of evidence.

Mr. Mason's points are well taken.

His motion is granted.

Case dismissed.

I remind you, sir, the law that you have
sworn to uphold respects substance more

than form.

Mr. Baxter, I remind you, the law helps
the vigilant before those who sleep on

their rights.

I don't understand, Perry.

I'm responsible for Tobin Leight's
death.

It's up to the state to prove that. Not
you.

Well, it's all set, then. You'll take
over the mortgage on the property and

out the equity.

Send the checks to me at this address.

And thanks.

Thanks for everything, Harvey.

Well, Aaron, I... You're paying an awful
big price for just one mistake.

I haven't even started paying yet.

Sure, Mason was skilled enough to get me
off, but in my own conscience, I'll be

paying for this the rest of my life.

I think you're being too fast in closing
the school.

After all, there's still the Foundation
Fund endowment.

No, no.

Right or wrong, knowing that I'm
responsible for a man's death, would you

your children to my school or grant me
any kind of endowment?

What are you going to do?

Leave town.

Marion and I are pulling out tonight.

Leaving town's the best thing he could
do, and just in the nick of time.

What do you mean by that?

Remember when I said the sheriff was
investigating something Tobin Wade did

several months ago?

Well, systematically, over a period of
the past couple of years, somebody's

stealing prep school textbooks from a
publishing company's warehouse.

So? So, whoever's been swiping them is
connected with a real prep school, one

that would ordinarily order the books.
You mean the stolen books were

substituted for those normally ordered?

With the thieves using phony billing
invoices, forging endorsements on the

checks, and then pocketing the dough.

You mean Tobin Wade was doing that?

Make it plural, Della.

Thieves were doing that.

That's right.

His accomplice, the second book
collector, may turn out to have been Dr.

Stewart.

You know, I thought I'd feel badly about
leaving, but somehow I don't.

Somehow the thought of a fresh start...
I know, exciting.

The self -deluding rationalization of
failure. Not the end of hope, but the

beginning of new dreams.

Don't be so educated.

It can't always be wrong.

The beginning of new dreams. I guess
not.

If a person doesn't make the same
mistakes twice and doesn't run into more

one Tobin Wade for a lifetime.

Hello?

Oh, just a minute, please. It's Janet
Glynn.

Janet?

Hello? I'm down the road from Tobin Wade
Shack in Tobanga Canyon.

I went out there to pick up some books
that Tobin had borrowed from me.

And when I got out there... Well, what
I'm trying to say is... I just

saw Tobin Wade at the shack.

Dr. Stewart, Tobin Wade is alive!

What is it? What did you want?

Aaron, what's wrong?

Well, I guess things are a little
different this time, Perry.

We're in Los Angeles.

We've got corpus delicti and despair.

Only this time it's not manslaughter.

We've arrested Aaron Stewart for first
-degree murder.

In desperation to keep Manzana Valley
Prep School open, Dr. Aaron Stewart even

turned to crime.

With the help of his best friend, Tobin
Wade, he sold textbooks, which he

converted to needed cash.

Later, when Wade, for personal reasons
at which we can only guess, turned

against his friend, and when Aaron
Stewart had discovered this double

had discovered what Wade had done to
Mrs. Stewart, the two men met, and they

fought. And they had an unfortunate
accident.

But later, the supposedly dead man...
returned to life.

Now, aside from his shock and his fury
at finding his nemesis still alive,

Aaron Stewart realized that Wade could
still cause trouble, could still have

sent to prison for the theft of the
books.

This time, he armed himself with a heavy
tire iron from his station wagon.

And Aaron Stewart killed Tobin Wade for
good.

And then the station wagon came around
the corner and all but knocked me down.

It was really going fast.

Now, did you report this near rundown to
the police?

No. No, but my father did. You see, I
was leaving for Europe, and I was

late when I left the house.

When did you finally talk to the police
about it? After I returned.

And what did you tell the police?

Well, I told them that I could identify
one of the two men in the station wagon.

The one sitting next to the driver.

And who was that man?

Well, that was Tobin Wade, the man that
was murdered.

Now, this tire iron, Lieutenant
Anderson, has been identified as the

most likely to have inflicted the
repeated and distinctive blows on the

the deceased.

Have you examined this iron in your
police crime laboratory, and if so, with

what results?

Well, this discoloration here and here
is blood.

There are also strands of human hair,
blood and hair matching that of the

decedent, Tobin Wade.

Now, what about the defendant, Dr.
Stewart?

Did you examine him, his clothing?

Yes, sir. There was blood matching that
of the decedent on Dr. Stewart's

clothes, his face, and his hands.

In addition, his hands were covered with
grease as though he had tightly gripped

a filthy tire iron such as this.

The grease on defendant's hands proved
to be identical to the composition of

grease on the tire iron used to murder
Tobin Wade.

Jones on evidence, American
jurisprudence, and proof of facts.

You looking for a legal precedent or a
miracle?

Neither. Just working on something
Berger said in his opening statement to

court. What was that?

Well, when Wade, for personal reasons at
which we can only guess, turned against

his friend.

So? Well, maybe Berger doesn't know what
Wade was up to, but I'm pretty sure I

do. What?

Adela, you said the other day that you
have a girlfriend who works with the

Manzana Valley Chamber of Commerce?

Yes, Ann Kogan.

Would you ask her to meet us in an hour
at the chamber office?

Perry, Ann is a very attractive girl who
has more sense than to work nights,

especially Friday nights.

And I'm sure she has a date.

We want to know why we want to meet her
in offices that have been, like all

reasonable offices, closed for the day.

You tell Miss Kogan that we want to know
how to go about investing $10 million

in booming Manzana Valley.

Do you think that'll do it?

She'll be there.

Oh, Paul, you know Ted Richards, don't
you?

You a motion picture cameraman? Sure.

I'll find him, will you please?

Tell him that we want him this weekend
to photograph you in a motion picture.

Hey, I like that.

What do I do in this motion picture?

You permit yourself to be murdered.

The defense waives its opening
statement.

Very well, Mr. Mason.

You may call your first witness.

I call Marion Stewart.

Mrs. Stewart.

For the record, you are aware that
neither husband nor wife is a competent

witness for or against the other in a
criminal action or proceeding to which

or both are parties except with the
consent of both.

I am, Mr. Mason. The defendant has
waived this privilege.

Now, you have the same privilege, Mrs.
Stewart.

I waive it, Mr. Mason.

I have given my consent to being called
as a witness for my husband.

Mrs. Stewart, you have heard the
district attorney...

characterized the events on the bluff at
Cliffside as, in his words, an

unfortunate accident.

Now, since you were involved, would you
tell us what happened that night,

please?

I'm an alcoholic, Mr. Mason.

Prior to that night, I had not had a
drink for an entire year.

My husband and I planned to celebrate
that milestone and a wedding

It was a weekend at Cliffside starting
the next day.

Instead, the night before, I drank,
became intoxicated, and

accompanied Tobin Wade to Cliffside
Resort. Was going to Cliffside your

No. Tobin just drove there. He didn't
ask me.

Now, according to your testimony, it's a
preliminary hearing in Manzana County.

Tobin Wade left word that if anyone
wanted him, he'd gone for a walk in the

bluff and that he could be found there.

Yes, sir.

In other words, he made a particular
point of your knowing where he was so

could tell Dr.

Stewart when he arrived.

Well, I guess so.

He said he'd be out there on the bluff.

If Dr.

Stewart met Tobin Wade on that bluff,
and if Dr.

Stewart struggled with Wade as he
claimed he did, you wouldn't be having a

right now.

Now, why is that, Sheriff Vincent?

Tobin Wade would have been killed by
that fall then and there.

You insist that Tobin Wade could not
have survived the fall, is that it?

No man could fall off of that bluff into
the rocks and surf below and not be

killed.

Mr. Richards, what is your occupation?

I'm a self -employed professional
freelance photographer.

Now, please describe the professional
work that you do involving motion

pictures. For various producing
companies and television stations, I

pictures of newsworthy events on
assignment.

Now, in connection with your testimony
in this case, have you brought with you

today a motion picture film of
experiments conducted by you under my

yesterday, a film which will clarify
your testimony?

Yes, sir. I have them with me now.

If it pleases the court, may I ask the
purpose of this film?

To describe an event as it actually
occurred, to show a scene as it existed

the time of the events and controversy.

Counsel can't possibly be referring to
what happened on the bluff between

Stewart and Wade.

Exactly and specifically just that, Mr.
Berger.

Motion pictures are admissible in
evidence when properly authenticated and

relevant. Deering's Penal Code, Siting
21, California Appellate, 2nd, 263, Your

Honor. But this is just a... a
recreation, nothing but an experiment.

2. Jones on Evidence, 456.

Experiments which have been made out of
court may be proved for the purpose of

illustrating the testimony which has
been given in court. May I remind you,

gentlemen, the admissibility of motion
pictures is a matter solely within the

discretion of the court.

Before ruling on the objection, we shall
view the film.

This film was taken on the bluff at
Cliffside.

For the purposes of the experiment, Mr.
Mason enacted the role of the defendant

while Mr. Paul Drake portrayed Tobin
Wade. This film shows one sequence of

action, first at normal speed, then in
slow motion shot from the same angle.

Your Honor, what you just saw did not
take a trained acrobat.

What you saw could have been done with
absolute safety by an agile man willing

to take a chance.

The defense contends it is the manner in
which Tobin Wade tricked Aaron Stewart

into believing he had killed the man.

Prosecution's objection to the
admissibility of the film is overruled.

with your next witness, Mr. Mason.

Now, this is a receipt for a tackling
dummy purchased by your school for your

football team.

And where was the dummy kept?

In the sports equipment locker.

Padlocked. And the only person with a
key to that locker was you.

Yes. Now, Mr. Emmett, that tackling
dummy isn't in your locker.

What did you do with it?

Oh, no, you don't. I saw the dummy in
the motion pictures.

I know what you're trying to do. Well,
it won't work.

If Tobin Wade was to survive that fall
at Cliffside...

It meant that going there was no spur
-of -the -moment decision.

It had to be something he'd planned.

Planned even to the point of getting
that dummy from you.

No. No, I never gave him that dummy.
Just the key to the locker.

You gave him the key before he went to
the Stewart house?

Before he tricked Marion Stewart into
drinking?

Yes. Yes, I guess so.

Why? What kind of role did Tobin Wade
have over you that he could force you to

make calls for him? Force you to give
him things he wanted, like the key to

locker, where you also kept hidden some
of the...

Stolen textbooks.

Sure. Of course.

Psychic. You, not Aaron Stewart. You and
Tobin Wade stole those textbooks.

Isn't that correct?

Miss Witt's identification of Wade would
ultimately have led to an

identification of you.

I guess Wade figured that someday he'd
have to get out of sight.

In case she and the police ever got
together, I mean. And so one afternoon,

picked up the dummy, left it planted
just below the bluff in the bushes, went

the Stewart house, tricked Marion into
drinking, Took her out to Cliffside,

went out on the bluff and waited for
Aaron Stewart to arrive.

Mr. Mason, believe me, I don't... I had
nothing to do with all that stuff. But

why didn't he just disappear?

What did Wade hope to gain with this
elaborate frame -up? Was it more than

discrediting Stewart and killing the
endowment?

Was it really a means of forcing Stewart
to lose the school and the property?

How about it, Mr. Emmett?

How much were you paid for the job?

Nothing. Not a penny.

Sure, Wade propositioned me. Asked me to
help him sabotage the school. Even

offered to split some dough with me.

But I turned him down cold.

Look, don't you see? I couldn't say
anything without talking myself right

jail. But I swear I had nothing to do
with that phony death.

And I swear to you I had nothing to do
with Wade's murder.

On this proposition by Wade to sabotage
the school, did you know the identity of

the man who was paying Wade off?

Well, no.

That is not his name.

Not his name, but you did know his
occupation.

You did know he was a real estate man.

And there was only one real estate man
who stood to profit.

Just one.

That man was Harvey Forrest.

But that is an issue of lies and
guesses.

Why? Why should I pay anyone to harass
Dr. Stewart and the school?

For half a million dollars?

Profits you would make in partnership
with the Baker Corporation?

Here.

Take a look at this photograph.

When Mr. Baker first decided to build a
new city to sink millions into rapid

development of Manzana Valley, he
contacted some people in the valley.

were delighted to recommend him to you,
to Harvey Forrest.

Must I call Mr. Baker in?

Have him testify that you offered him
the most fantastic piece of property in

the valley?

Property that was exactly what he was
looking for.

He agreed, didn't he?

There was only one small hitch.

One little problem.

Manzana Valley Prep School was directly
in the middle of that property. The key

piece.

And you didn't own it.

Now, listen, Mr. Mason.

I knew nothing about Wade's plan to
frame Aaron on a manslaughter charge.

you must believe that.

Wade did hear me talking over the
property with Mr.

Baker. And he learned something, I
suppose, and he guessed the rest because

was Wade. It was he.

He propositioned me.

And I admit, I agreed to pay him a few
dollars if he could force Dr. Stewart to

close the school. But that was all.

And even so, I told him I wouldn't pay
him because he hadn't earned his money.

Well, what he was doing was so obvious
that I thought that Aaron would catch on

to it.

But then he thought of the accidental
death at Cliffside.

What happened after that, Mr. Forrest?

After Stewart's trial, were you then
contacted by a dead man?

When I heard Wade's voice on the
telephone, I was never so shocked in my

But it was Wade.

And he was very excited.

He said, oh, he'd close the school with
a bang, hadn't he? For good, forever.

And now there was only one thing left. I
was to come up and pay him off.

And so you went out to his place to meet
him?

To pay him off?

With what?

I didn't have $100 to my name.

And I wouldn't have until I cleared the
Baker deal.

But I went out to him to explain it.

And when I got there, that's when he
told me that he could prove so easily

I was the one that put him up to this
horrible stunt and that we were in it

together, that we were partners.

And that's why he demanded, oh, not just
a little money, Mr. Mason.

He demanded that I pay him $50 ,000.

And so you killed him.

I... I... I knew that that would only be
the first

payment. So I... I did. I grabbed a log.

And I... Yes, there was... There was
blood.

Yes.

You heard Stuart coming.

You hid.

When he showed up, you knocked him out.

You got Stuart's tire iron from his car,
hit Wade with it.

Put the iron in Stuart's hand.

But why?

Didn't it occur to you to just bury
Tobin Wade?

A man already thought dead?

Nobody would have known.

I couldn't do that. Things were
happening too fast. I saw that school

come out, and I was afraid that she
might have seen Wade.

And then Aaron, I wouldn't have heard
Aaron.

Aaron, he happened to come at that time.
And then I had to be very, very clever

about it. And I was, you admit that.

Because I did just as you said. And
there they were.

And it was obvious. And I was clear. I
was out of it.

Forty years I've been watching real
estate here in Southern California grow

become important.

I was clever enough to see that, you
see. I was part of it.

And I always made mistakes.

But the Baker deal, that was the thing
that would have... They would have

stopped it.

It was the only thing I could do.

That was the only thing I could do.

Was it?

Defense arrest, Your Honor.

In return for deeding us this key area
in the center of our proposed city

development, Dr. Stewart, we have agreed
with Mr. Mason.

to what we trust will be a satisfactory
arrangement.

The corporation will deed to the school
this set of lots here on the periphery

of the development.

We will build you your school, Dr.
Stewart.

The most modern and efficient plant our
architects can work out.

Harry, you've given Marion and me a
second chance to start over.

And Mr. Baker, you're certainly giving
us the means to do it.

You won't be sorry, either of you.

We promise.