All language subtitles for Perry Mason s07e15 Capering Camera

Thank you.

Wonderful, darling. Wonderful.

Exactly the effect I desire.

A sea name, Fanade, just risen from the
sea.

And now one without the jacket, Judith.

But with the same lovely expression of
joyful abandon.

Aren't you wondering, Jacob, why I
agreed to work with you tonight?

After hours?

For money, I suppose.

That's generally the reason.

Though I must admit it's not often one
of my lustrous cousin Carol's high

fashion models poses for me.

I wanted to see you alone.

It's not about those negatives again.

I've paid more than $5 ,000 now, Jacob.

Don't you think that's enough?

But I told you before.

The negatives have vanished months ago.

You've only to check that report Carol
made to the police.

It happens I did.

You told them you were paying blackmail?

No, Jacob.

It hasn't come to that yet.

Oh, but it has come to accusing me.

You took the pictures.

They were stolen.

By someone who recognized who they were
of? By someone who made prints to send

with the letters demanding money?

Suppose you have been paying me.

How can you prove it?

With this, Jacob.

Where did you get that?

From your desk.

And since it's yours, you know it's
loaded.

And you think with that you can make me
confess?

I don't want a confession, Jacob.

Just the negatives.

I haven't got them.

In the darkroom, there's a locked
cabinet.

It's Carl's.

You know this is his studio.

I saw you open the cabinet the other day
when I was here posing for Carl. You're

so secretive.

I decided then you still had the
negatives.

Suppose we go to the darkroom, Jacob,
and open the cabinet.

Or would you rather I got the keys?

Another way.

Could it be sensible?

You wouldn't.

You wouldn't. Wouldn't what? Shoot you?

There is nothing I'd like better.

No, Judith.

No!

You know better than that. Now, mind
your manners and come along.

Carl?

Irene, what in the world are you doing
here? Walking Jameson while I wait for

your cousin Jacob.

Or didn't he tell you we had a date?

You and Jacob?

No, he didn't.

But why not wait inside in comfort?

He has a model with him.

Probably Miss January, uncled on a
bearskin rug.

Or Miss August, sunbathing on a rock.

Shall we find out which month it is?

All right.

I suppose this means you're in charge of
the blackmail department now.

Blackmail department?

Yes.

But don't worry, I'm still prepared to
pay.

Everybody said I could beg, borrow, or
steal.

Better count it.

Irene, I know nothing of any blackmail.

I allowed Jacob to use my studio, yes.

But we were not associates in anything.

I think this is something we should
discuss.

I'm not here. Shall we go somewhere
else?

What about him?

Jacob won't mind, I assure you.

But this could be very important to both
of us.

All right. I suppose I've got nothing to
lose.

Well, it's about time you got here.

Almost a quarter past eight.

And I know that your plane landed at
seven because I checked.

Aye, Annie.

Hello, everybody.

But what did you do, Lewis? Walk from
the airport?

Well, I might just as well have. There
was a regular con night rush on cabs.

Besides, dear wife, weren't you supposed
to meet me?

I would have, darling. Only Penny had
the car.

Oh, I'm sorry. I just lost track of the
time.

Well, I guess this is the year that I
gained a daughter -in -law and lost a

Perry, I hope I didn't inconvenience you
too badly.

Go ahead to reverse, Lewis.

You gave me an excuse to leave a
snowdrift of unfinished work on my desk.

How'd you make out in Washington?

Yes, let's hear the news, Dad.

That's what the family's gathered here
for. Am I the son of our newest

ambassador, or did you flunk your
senatorial inquisition?

I think I got by, Norman. I even knew
where Taraneka was, which impressed

everybody. Well, that calls for a toast.

Not yet.

It'll be a few days before I'm
officially confirmed or rejected.

A drink without a toast, then,
Catherine?

Penny?

Perry, I have a double apology to make.

Double? For keeping you waiting and also
for having brought you over here for

nothing. I know I made it sound like
life and death on the phone this

but since then I've found a way to take
care of the matter myself.

That must be Judith.

You invited Judith?

What's so odd about that?

Penny's sister, your sister -in -law?
She's family too, isn't she?

For you, Father. Thank you. And Mr.
Mason, the refill?

No thanks, Norman. I'll finish this.

Judith, you're late.

Yes, I know. I had an assignment that
ran overtime.

Mr. Ames?

Kenny?

Norman? Greetings, Judith.

What made you so late?

Just got behind schedule.

Job's all over town. You know how it is.

Yes, I know.

Judith, I'd like you to meet Perry
Mason, my lawyer.

Lawyer? What brings you here, Mr. Mason?

Why, Judith, you sound as though you had
a guilty conscience about something.

If so, don't worry. Mr. Mason came to
see me.

Oh. Well, how do you do, Mr. Mason?

How do you do?

Catherine, would you mind if I used your
bedroom for a moment to freshen up?

Go right ahead, dear.

Excuse me.

Penny, your sister's been working too
hard. She looks exhausted.

It's not the work, darling. It's the
dieting. I know, Mr. Mason, because I

to be a high -fashion model myself
before Lewis decided to take on to

second wife. At the same time, saved me
from starvation.

Speaking of starvation, how about dining
with us, Perry?

Thanks, but I'm back to the fault lines.

I've enjoyed seeing you again, Ms. Ames,
Penny, Norman.

Judith.

Oh, swim fashions in Santa Monica. They
kept me so late after the last shot was

taken that I just ran.

You didn't see Jacob?

I love tomorrow.

I wish you'd done it today.

Penny, I told you, you're out of this.

Now leave Jacob to me.

Judith, there's a telephone call for
you.

You can take it on the extension.

Yes?

Oh, hello, Eloise.

Well, did he leave his name?

No, he just hung up.

Does it make any sense to you?

Uh, yes, I think so.

Thank you, Eloise.

Who was that?

Oh, it's a new girl at my answering
service.

An appointment canceled for tomorrow.

Now, come on, sis, speed it. Let me get
dressed in peace.

I knew I was in worse trouble than even
I'd thought after that weird message.

So I phoned Harper Green.

Harper Green?

Well, he's head of the model agency I
work for.

And a friend.

I told him exactly what had happened and
that I was going to go to the police.

And he said I should see a lawyer first.

Isn't it almost too coincidental, Miss
Blair?

Someone shooting Jacob K. Donner just as
you were threatening to shoot him

yourself? Are you positive? Quite
positive you didn't fire the pistol you

holding? Perhaps without meaning to?

For a second I thought it had gone off.
But it hadn't. Wouldn't the pistol

itself prove that if it were found not
to have been fired?

It would certainly help make your story
a little more believable.

Now, the actual shot, you say, came from
the partially open door behind you.

That's the only place it could have come
from.

But you didn't see anyone there.

You think I'm lying, Mr. Mason?

Oh, I don't blame you.

I guess the thing to do now is to go to
the police.

The thing to have done was to have gone
to them then.

But I panicked. Is that so unnatural?

No.

Let me recapitulate.

Jacob Kedar was blackmailing you as a
result of some calendar art pictures

taken? Yes, two years ago.

I badly needed money.

And he threatened, or rather the letters
which you believe came from him

threatened publication of these
pictures.

What you felt would damage your career
as a high fashion model.

Yes. So, believing the negatives, we're
in a locked cabinet in the studio

darkroom.

You made an after hours appointment to
pose for Kedar.

Yes. And after the shooting, you took
the negatives?

No. I just dropped his pistol and ran.

Only to be followed by someone after you
reached your car.

The killer, I was afraid it was, after
me.

And the mysterious message, the killer
again?

I don't know.

Do you want to see if Paul Drake's still
in his office?

Mr. Mason, you're going to help me?

I was always going to, Miss Blair.

Before we decide to proceed, however,
there are a few things I'd like to check

on first.

The first one being whether or not the
gun was fired.

You'll find it hadn't been, Mr. Mason.
Paul, Mr. Mason would like to talk to

you.

How would you like to have your picture
taken, Paul?

When?

Right now.

Any luck?

Well, so far, a couple of pretty fair
latent prints.

You want me to photograph you here or
take the camera down to the lab? The

but later, after we finish.

Yeah, he's still here.

Lieutenant Anderson, it's for you.

Thanks.

Anderson.

On the right hand, huh?

I figures.

And thanks for being so quick.

Invite our guests in, will you,
Sergeant?

You can forget about the camera.

Oh?

Well, I...

Guess that winds me up then, except for
this pistol, I suppose.

I'll bring that in.

All right.

Well, it looks as though we have the
makings of a convention.

You and Drake mind waiting until I
finish with these two? Not at all,

Lieutenant.

First you, Mr. Kedar.

Something I don't quite understand.

You say after you found your cousin's
body, you went down to the corner

drugstore to call us.

Why not phone from here?

Perhaps I've been reading too many
detective stories, Lieutenant.

Detective stories?

In them, the police always want nothing
touched in case there are fingerprints.

I see.

Now, take another look at that pistol,
Mr. Kedar.

You're absolutely certain it was your
cousin's? Yes.

It's the pistol he kept in his desk.

Okay. You'll be notified about the
inquest. Thank you.

Now, Mr., uh, Mr., uh, let's see, is
that your name here somewhere?

Harper Green.

Charm Incorporated Models.

Yes.

Are you told, Sergeant Bryce, you had an
appointment with Jacob Kedar?

No. That he had an appointment with me.

At my office.

Well, then how come you're here?

Well, he was due at eight, but when he
hadn't shown up by nine, I decided to

drop by and see what was keeping him.

Thereupon, your men decided to keep me.

As they did these two gentlemen when
they appeared.

Well, why didn't you phone Kedar?

I did, but there was no answer.

Which meant to me he was in the
darkroom.

You see, he was making extra prints of
some high -fashion pictures his cousin

had taken of several of my models, which
I wanted for their portfolios.

But it seems he wasn't in the darkroom
after all.

No, I guess he wasn't.

All right, Mr. Green, you can go.

Thanks.

According to Sergeant Bryce, you told
him you were coming to see Jacob Kedar

behalf of a client.

That's right.

And the client's name?

Well, for once you can tell me since
there's no possible way he or she can be

involved.

There isn't? No.

Not since it's suicide.

Suicide? Well, what were you expecting?

Murder? We weren't necessarily expecting
anything.

That pistol.

Jacob Kedar's pistol.

It's been fired?

Well, naturally.

Which with powder burns on the corpse
and powder residue on the right hand.

Adds up to suicide in my book.

Or do you two have some other notion?

Newspapers say it's suicide. The
coroner's office says it's suicide.

Lieutenant Anderson says it's suicide.

So it's suicide.

I'm afraid it's not quite that simple,
Paul. Not for me, anyway.

I'm on the horns of about as odd an
ethical dilemma as I've ever

Ethical dilemma?

A lawyer has two major responsibilities,
Stella. One is to protect the

confidence of his client. The other is
to fulfill his duties as an officer of

the court.

In the latter capacity, I should report
what Judith Blair told me last night to

the police.

You can't do that.

The other horn of the dilemma.

Not without violating her confidence.

So what do I do? Hurry.

Neurotic people are forever confessing
the crimes they didn't commit.

Couldn't Judith, when she found Kedar a
suicide, have gone slightly off her

rocker? Possibly.

But it's equally possible she's telling
the truth, and that the shot did come

from the sliding door.

All right.

Then how do you account for the powder
burns on the body, a positive journal

nitrate test on the right hand, and the
pistol being fired?

There is a way of accounting for all
that.

How? Kedar could have been struggling
with Judith for possession of the pistol

when it went off.

Which would make the sliding door story
just a wild attempt to get off the hook.

What do you do, Perry?

Temporize, I suppose.

Try to discover what really happened
without attracting too much attention.

Judith Blair's calendar aren't negative,
Paul, and the pictures she says Jacob

Kedar took of her last night.

See if you can find out who's got them,
the police or Carl Kedar or who.

It'll be a pleasure.

And through your police contacts, get
the results of the ballistic tests on

Jacob Kedar's pistol.

If it fired the fatal bullet, then
Judith is lying.

Well, if it's suicide, it's suicide,
Anderson.

So why get the wind up over Perry Mason
and Paul Gray? It's the way they looked

last night, as if they knew something.

Well, they always look like they knew
something.

But what about the ballistics test on
the pistol?

The lab should have the results by now.

You have a blister?

Lieutenant Tragg.

Oh, hello, Gavin.

Anything on the K -Dar pistol?

Jacob. I think that's the first name.

Oh, and the cartridge, too, huh?

Well, thanks.

They all match.

The expended shell you found, the
pistol, and the bullet from the dead

heart.

Q -E -D.

Suicide.

I guess.

You're not too happy about it yet, are
you?

You still think that there might be a
chance that it is murder?

I have a suggestion.

What's that?

Make Perry Mason your chief suspect.

First, a little on the train and we'll
have it.

There. Ready?

Voila.

That does it, darling.

Now you can go beddy -bye for real.

Yes?

You wanted to see me?

Huh? Oh, yes. Yes, I did.

My name's Paul Drake, Miss Kedar.

Remember, I saw you last night with Mr.
Mason.

What can I do for you?

I'll answer a few questions, if you
will.

If you can think of any questions the
police haven't asked, you're something

a genius, Mr. Drake.

Well, I can think of one.

How do you get in this line of work?

If you knew the troubles, you wouldn't
ask.

Is it about my cousin Jacob?

Yes. And about your darkroom.

By any chance did Jacob have a cabinet
there he kept locked?

Yes. Well, is it locked now?

I don't know. Suppose we go and see.

Fine.

Do you have a key?

No.

But this is how I once had to open mine.

Then. Empty.

Now, that's strange.

There have been rumors, Mr. Drake, that
Jacob was taking calendar pictures

unsuitable for the ordinary calendar.

Are those the ones you're looking for?

That's right. To protect someone?

Yes.

Well.

He will have to look somewhere else, I'm
afraid.

Mr. Kedar, one more thing.

Was your cousin alone in the studio last
night?

I assume so.

Well, I was wondering about the camera
by him. Had he been using it?

Well, there would have been exposed
negatives there if he had.

And none were found? No.

Is Mr. Drake in there with you, Mr.
Kedar?

Yes, he's here.

Telephone, Mr. Drake.

Thanks, and thank you very much, Mr.
Kedar.

Not at all.

You knew the cabinet was empty, didn't
you?

Yes. I opened it with Jacob's key last
night, before I called the police.

Well, what did you do with the pictures
of me?

Well, the cabinet was empty then, just
as it is now.

If you want to talk to Judith alone,
I'll be more than happy to clear out.

Oh, please stay, Harper. I need all the
support I can get.

Besides, you know everything anyway.

Not quite everything, Judith.

But before we get to that, tell me, Mr.
Green, why did you go to Kedar's studio

last night?

Well, about an hour after Judith called,
something suddenly hit me. The

negatives of the pictures Jacob had been
taking of her.

If the police found them, she'd be in a
suit. So I decided to try to get them

first. And did you? No.

No, I barely reached the front door when
they grabbed me.

Just like they grabbed you and Drake
about 15 minutes later.

Haven't the police got the negatives?

I didn't take them, Mr. Mason.

I was too frightened to think of that.

But not too frightened evidently to
think of saying the shot came from

doors. I don't think I understand.

A few minutes ago, I had a call from
Paul Drake.

The police have definitely proven the
fatal shot came from the pistol found by

the body. Jacob Kadar's pistol, Judith.

The pistol you were holding.

That's impossible.

I didn't shoot Jacob. You must believe
that.

Could it be, Judith, that he shot
himself?

Struggling with you for possession of
the pistol?

But there wasn't any struggle, I tell
you. The shot came from the door.

Harper, you believe me, don't you?

Of course I do.

What's the difference anyway, Mr. Mason,
as long as the police are willing to

write an office of suicide?

Don't tell me you feel obliged to go to
them.

I always thought a lawyer was like a
priest.

Even a priest, Mr. Green, has a dual
obligation when he learns something

might be harmful to society.

Then you are going to the police.

I don't know.

But I must tell you this, Judith.

If you do become involved with the
police and you stick to your story that

shot came from the sliding doors,
they'll never believe you.

A couple of seconds more and it'll be
ready.

For a half a dozen other negatives of
her in different poses, but this is the

one I thought you'd be interested in.

And how?

And how your advice paid off,
Lieutenant.

Advice? What advice?

To make Perry Mason my chief suspect.

Will you send Mr. Mason in, please?

Well, Perry, what's the occasion?

To the best of my knowledge, there's
nothing pending between us?

No. Social call?

I don't know exactly what kind of a call
it is, Hamilton.

Well, maybe between us we can figure it
out. Sit down.

I am in a very curious predicament.

That's a switch.

Traffic ticket?

No, a problem of ethics.

If I tell you about it, would you be
willing to regard it as privilege, so to

speak? And not to be acted upon until a
full investigation can be made?

Why, Perry, you know as district
attorney, I can't buy a pig in a poke

that. All right, I'll present it
hypothetically instead.

So you won't have to promise anything.

Agreed? Well, I don't know how the
taxpayers will react to my spending my

listening to hypothetical problems, but
go ahead.

Well, let's say X, trusting in the
confidential relationship between client

lawyer, reveals something that should be
called to the attention of the

authorities. Well, that's easy.

Just a minute.

There's something that could put X's
life in serious jeopardy. There's

possibly being...

Like having committed murder?

No, more like possibly being accused of
murder.

Now, Perry, you know that you can't...
that your hypothetical lawyer can't be

forced to come forward. But he wants to.

If there is some way X can be protected
until all the facts are in. Why? What

happens if he doesn't come forward?

That's the rub, Hamilton.

Nothing. That's a real hypothetical out
there, Perry.

One which, by a curious coincidence, I
can help you with.

You can? Yes, I can.

Would you tell...

Lieutenant Anderson, I'm ready for it
now.

Perry, let me present Miss X, whose
problem is now something more than

hypothetical.

She's just been charged with murder in
the first degree.

Whatever Judith's expenses are, Mr.
Mason, my father will be very happy to

the bill.

But anonymously, Norman, don't forget
that.

Anonymously? Well, the Senate hasn't yet
confirmed Lewis's ambassadorship, and

any newspaper stories linking him with
calendar art and murder would be fatal.

That's why he sent you three instead of
coming himself.

Well, he would have come if he thought
it would help, but he doesn't know

anything at all about all this.

I see.

Well, we can discuss the expenses later.

But you will do everything you can, Mr.
Mason?

Of course.

I'll keep you informed.

Thank you.

Perry, did you know that just after she
was picked up by the police, Judith told

her story to Berger? Only she changed
the shot from the sliding door to a

struggle with Jacob Kedar in which the
pistol went off.

It was my fault, Paul.

I told her nobody would ever believe the
door story.

Fortunately, I was able to stop her from
making a formal statement.

How did the police find her in the first
place?

My fault again.

Anderson put a tail on me as the only
suspect, as he put it, he had.

I led the tale to Judith.

What is it, Mrs. Ames?

I'm supposed to be looking for my
gloves, Mr. Mason, but what I really

was to tell you that actually I was the
one who was being... Penny!

You didn't have any gloves, remember?

I didn't?

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm terribly sorry.

That's quite all right.

What was that all about?

The list of people you're checking, I
want you to add another name.

One Penny Ains. She could be as
important to us as the woman with the

juice, or the man who followed him.
We're working on those.

Della, it's about time we were working
in court.

And you say, Doctor, that death was
instantaneous?

If by instantaneous you mean a matter of
seconds, yes.

Now, as to the time of death, when was
it you first examined the body, Doctor?

At three minutes after nine, at the
studio.

And how long at that time, in your
opinion, had Jacob Cato been dead?

Approximately an hour and a half.

Which would then set 7 .30 approximately
as the time of death, wouldn't it?

That's right.

Thank you, Doctor. Mr. Mason.

What leeway does approximately give you,
Doctor, ten minutes, a half hour, an

hour? In this particular case, Mr.
Mason, perhaps 15 minutes.

Or perhaps 20.

Possibly. Then death could have occurred
not at 7 .30 alone, but as early as 7

.10 or as late as 7 .50, could it not?

Possibly. Thank you.

Now, when you first questioned the
defendant, Lieutenant Anderson, in her

apartment, what did you ask her?

If she knew Jacob Kedar and she said she
didn't.

And what took place then?

Well, subsequently, after she refused to
state her relationship with Perry

Mason, I asked her if she had any
objection to my looking around her

And did she?

No, none.

Do you recognize these, Lieutenant?

Yes, that's my identifying mark.

Six exposed photographic negatives,
which I found in the defendant's model

as I believe it's called.

And what are these?

The prints made from the six negatives
under my direction in the crime lab

darkroom. Would you describe these
photographs to the court, please?

The five are of the defendant in a
bathing suit in various poses in Kedar's

studio. And what about the six?

Also of the defendant still in a bathing
suit, facing the camera with Jacob

Kedar's pistol in her hand. Thank you,
Lieutenant.

If it please the court, I should like
these negatives and photographs admitted

in evidence.

Just one moment, please, Your Honor.

I submit that these objects are totally
inadmissible.

They were found in the defendant's
apartment, Mr. Mason?

In the first place, the weapon has not
and cannot be identified from a

photograph as Jacob Kedar's pistol.

Nor in the second place have either
negatives or prints been established as

having the slightest connection with
this case.

The photographs were taken in Kedar's
studio. The settings show that.

Perhaps, but when taken? This morning? A
week ago? A year ago?

And by whom and under what
circumstances?

Your Honor, until these questions are
answered...

A proper foundation laid.

The defense objects most strenuously to
either negatives or prints being placed

in evidence.

Your point is well taken, Mr. Mason.

Though I think it applies more to the
weight of the evidence than its

admissibility, therefore the court will
admit the evidence, but keep well in

mind Mr. Mason's objection.

If you know anything, anything at all
that can help your sister, you've got to

tell us now before it's too late.

Do you know anything, Penny?

Do you?

Then it is you.

Yes.

I was the one who posed for Jacob
Kadar's calendar art photos.

The one who was being blackmailed. Not
Judith.

How is she mixed up in this?

The letters demanding money.

Each was a print like that.

Started coming right after Norman and I
were married.

I didn't know what to do or how Norman
would react.

So I went to Judith.

And she took over for you?

Yes. And paid and paid until there was
no more money.

That's when she decided to have it out
with Catherine.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I just couldn't hold out any longer.

I understand, Penny.

And I was completely wrong putting
Lewis's ambassadorship ahead of your

safety. You knew about this all the
time, Mrs. Ames?

Penny told me the day of Jacob Tatar's
death.

Oh, it's odd.

Years ago, just after Lewis and I were
married, a similar thing happened to me.

You testified, I believe, Lieutenant,
that it was this pistol found by Jacob

Kedar's body and entered into evidence
as People's Exhibit 3, which fired the

fatal shot.

Yes, sir. Our ballistics tests prove
that. And did they prove who fired the

pistol? Isn't it actually true that what
they and other tests did prove was that

Jacob Kedar killed himself?

Well, for a time they seemed to.

How was that?

Well, it all seemed to add up. The
powder burns on the body, the traces of

powder on the right hand, the fact that
it was Jacob Kadar's pistol.

Jacob Kadar's pistol?

How do you know that? Well, his cousin
identified it. His cousin?

Your Honor, may I have a moment?

Of course.

the fact that it was Penny who caused
the blackmail. They should not do that.

Also, remember Kyle Kadar telling us he
was having cocktails with a woman in the

bar near his studio around 7 .30 that
night?

Yes. We checked and he was there about
that with a woman who had a Scotty.

I'm tough, Paul.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Now, Lieutenant, isn't it proper police
procedure to determine the ownership of

a weapon not through hearsay but by its
registration?

Trouble is, it wasn't registered.

It wasn't registered.

Then how can you say it was Jacob
Kedar's?

Your Honor, the state concedes that the
ownership of the pistol has not been

properly established.

But it will be with a subsequent
witness.

Will it, Mr. Berger?

Will it?

Now, haven't I told you many times,
Jenny, how love grows and grows?

You mustn't be jealous of the other
children.

Because the more love I have for them,
the more love I have for you.

Now you run along and play.

Try to remember what I told you.

Cut! Thank you, Mr. David.

Thanks a lot, boys.

It was when I first started this
picture, my first starring role after

bits and second leads that the
photographs began coming.

Jacob Cater evidently waited until I was
completely vulnerable.

Who put you under me, Mr. Drake?

Carl Cater?

Nope.

He did.

Jameson.

I never thought you'd write Feeney to my
career, old boy.

If you need your career, Miss Gray?

A spiritual picture about orphans and
nuns. What do you think will happen to

and to me when it comes out that the
leading lady was once a calendar art

Mr. Drake, what I saw last night can't
possibly help Judith Blair. It can only

hurt her.

Must I come forward and ruin myself?

I'm afraid it's out of my hands, Miss
Gray.

Gray?

I'm Lieutenant Craig.

Homicide.

All right.

Are you sure we have a right to be here?

I've called Kedar's key and permission.

Though I must admit I didn't exactly
tell him what I was after.

Well, what are you after?

Powder burns on the body, powder traces
on the hand, and the gun that did the

job lying there.

Either suicide or a struggle has got to
be the answer.

No, Paul, there's another answer.

What's that?

Two pistols.

Two pistols?

Yes, the other pistol is mine, Mr.
Mason.

But it never occurred to me to mention
it when I was testifying the other day.

Jacob faced a suicide and killed
struggling with Miss Blair.

What part could it play in either event?

Where did the picture come from, Mr.
Kedar?

Mine from the studio where you found it.

I mean originally.

Jacob brought them when he came to join
me from Europe three years ago.

One he kept, the other one he gave to
me. And they're exactly alike?

Well, it's the standard European make,
isn't it?

I suppose the serial numbers are
different, but I never looked.

You must answer, Mr. Green, no matter
how reluctant you are to do so.

All right.

Yes, Judith called me that night.

About 8 .20, I think it was.

And told me someone had shot Jacob Kadar
from the sliding door as she was trying

to force him to return some pictures of
her he had.

And what did you do?

That he was going to the police.

But I told her she should consult a
lawyer first.

Oh, a lawyer, eh?

And Mr. Mason, you may have the witness.

Mr. Green, had Judith previously told
you about the pictures or that she was

going to see Jacob Kedar?

No.

No, the first I knew about any of it was
when she called me.

After he was dead.

While you were walking your Scotty,
waiting, as you say, for Carl Kedar to

you, did you see anyone now in this
courtroom run from the studio and enter

cop? I saw someone about to enter a car.

The defendant.

Judith Blair.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

No questions.

There's someone else in the courtroom
who was outside the studio that night.

The man in the first row on the aisle.

A couple of days before the death, I
found one of the blackmail letters and a

picture.

I didn't mention it to Penny.

The day of the death, I overheard Judith
tell her that she was going to see

Jacob Kedar that night and settle the
picture business for good.

I followed her and hung around outside
wondering what I could do to help.

Well, then the shot.

She came out and drove away. I followed
to ask what had happened.

But she lost me.

Then later I decided not to say anything
to her about it.

It seems curious that you didn't mention
finding the blackmail letter to your

wife, Mr. Ames.

Did you mention it to anyone else?

Yes.

I told my father the day he went to
Washington.

I guess it does sound as though I might
have stopped off and killed Jacob Tatar.

since I took so long to get home from
the airport that night.

But I didn't.

Either stop off or kill him. When you
did get home, however, you told me you'd

settled the matter you wanted to consult
me about yourself.

Now, that matter was the blackmail
business, was it not? Yes.

How did you settle it, if not by killing
Jacob Kedar?

By telling the Senate committee about
Penny, my daughter -in -law, being

blackmailed. Right after the long
-distance call to you.

That's why they were delaying my
appointment.

To see how I would come out of all this.

You can check with him if you don't
believe me.

I believe you, Mr. Ames.

Oh, yes.

One more thing.

Did you know your wife was similarly
blackmailed when you were first married?

Catherine?

Exactly the same routine as with Penny.

A photograph of the letter demanding
money.

With instructions telling me to send it
to an obviously made -up name in care of

general delivery.

How long ago was this?

Five years.

What did you do about your photograph
and letter, Mrs. Ames?

I wrote back, publish and go to blazes.

I'm proud of my figure.

Now, we understand that Mr. Drake is the
killer at the sliding doors with Carl

Kedar's pistol.

And we understand, Mr. Mason.

Get on with your little play. We're all
on pins and needles.

As the defendant with Jacob Kedar's
pistol demands return of a sister's

negative, the killer fires.

Lieutenant?

The defendant, terrified, drops Jacob
Kedar's pistol and runs.

Now alone in the studio, the killer
picks up Jacob Kedar's pistol and puts

murder weapon, Carl Kedar's pistol, in
its place.

But the powder burns, Mr. Mason.

The powder residue in the dead man's
hand.

A blank, Mr. Berger.

Inserted in the unused pistol and fired
by means of the dead man's hand.

A most interesting demonstration, Mr.
Mason.

But can you prove all this?

I can't prove that Jacob Kedar's dying
hand took Mr.

Berger's picture of the defendant's
pistol in hand, Your Honor, but the

remainder I believe I can if Lieutenant
Anderson will answer a question or two.

Your lab examination of pistol number
two, the non -lethal pistol, showed

Lieutenant? Well, that it had been fired
recently and that the composition of

the expanded powder in the barrel was
identical to that on the body.

We also found excellent latent prints of
an index finger and... Just a moment,

Lieutenant. We'll come to those later.

In the meantime, I'd like to recall Carl
Kedar.

I never killed Jacob, Mr. Mason.

I didn't even know the pistols had been
switched.

Mr. Kedar, before Jacob joined you three
years ago, did you ever take calendar

art photographs?

Yes, occasionally.

Did you take such photographs of the
woman who is now Catherine Ames?

Yes.

She was a high fashion model then, but
she needed the extra money. And

afterwards, when she married a wealthy
man, married Louis Ames, did you attempt

to blackmail her?

No.

No, I couldn't have.

The pictures disappeared along with the
others that I... Harper Green.

He was the one who told me Catherine
needed money.

And he told me about the others who
needed money, too.

Just as he told Jacob.

Harper Green.

Ridiculous, all of this. Utterly
ridiculous.

Who but you would know which of your
models needed extra money, Mr. Green?

who but you could follow their careers?

Know when they were in a position to be
blackmailed?

Still ridiculous.

Is this ridiculous?

The pistol Judith dropped?

The pistol through which you fired the
blank that left the powder burns in

Kedar's body?

The pistol on which Lieutenant Anderson
found his excellent, blatant

fingerprints? You never thought to wipe
them off, did you?

Off the pistol that didn't kill.

Unlike Carl, Jacob worked with me.

Until he began to get panicky, began to
want out.

There's no loud enough thing like that.

So I... I thought up the perfect crime.

Murder into suicide using the two
pistols.

And then Judith mixed it.

I was afraid Jacob was about to tell her
everything, so I shot.

Once we dropped a pistol and ran, I... I
realized my plan would still work if

she'd just keep quiet as I told her to
do in the message I sent her.

It's you, Mr. Mason.

You weren't going to keep quiet. I can
see that.

So I put the negative I'd taken from the
studio into Judith's apartment so the

police would think that Jacob was killed
while struggling with her.

But that didn't work either.

Why did they have to interfere in your
life?

Why?

Perry, were the fingerprints on the gun
that fired the blank really Harper

Green? No, they were Jacob Kedar's, it
being his pistol. But fortunately, Green

didn't know that.

Well, I must say that knowing exactly
where to find that second pistol was a

stroke of genius.

No, Paul, not quite.

More the result of investing in a few
drinks for Carl Kedar's receptions.

I don't know as I like that.

You'll like this.

A handsome check from Lewis Ames and a
note saying that his ambassadorship has

been confirmed.

And, uh, what's that?

Oh, this is from Irene Gray.

And gratitude for my not involving her.

An autographed picture.

Not to... Odella.

With her clothes.