All language subtitles for perry_mason_s07e09_festive_felon

Yeah.

Call the doctor again, Mr. Quilver?

He said he'd be here in half an hour.
It's ten more minutes.

Less than a month ago, I laughed at her
when she talked about wills and gifts.

She was so alive, so well.

Where's the nurse, Mrs. Randall? The
doctor phoned in an order for

Heady went to the drugstore to pick it
up. There must be something we can do.

Stop fussing, Reed.

Phoebe abhorred it in life, and I'm sure
she'd resent it in death.

Oh, shut up, Eloise.

Be a happy stoic, like your father.

Well, Lawton looks like he's already
figuring out where to spend the money

first.

Eddie.

What is it, Mrs. Brown?

Eddie.

Where's Eddie?

She went to the drugstore, darling.
She'll be right back.

Justin.

In that drawer.

Give me the envelope.

Here it is, Mrs. Brent.

All of you.

Eloise. Chester.

Not me.

I want you to be witnesses.

Just in the words.

What are the words I ask you about?

The gift.

You mean gift causa mortis?

Gift.

In anticipation of death.

Irrevocable gift.

From my nurse.

Eddie Randall.

Eddie's not here, Aunt Phoebe.

You take it for her, Justin.

Age it for her.

Now we went over it and over it, baby.

I told you this wasn't necessary.

Justin, please.

It's not like you to disregard my
advice.

For the first time and the last.

Humor me, Justin, please.

All right. You can give me the envelope.

I accept this envelope and its contents
for Mrs. Baby Brent, the donor of the

gift, as agent for Mrs.

Hetty Randall, the donee of the gift.

Thank you, Justin.

I don't know. I don't need gifts.

Will somebody please explain to me what
all this mumbo -jumbo is all about? I

tried to tell her that a simple codicil
of the will would be sufficient, but she

wouldn't have it.

With Hetty, she insisted it had to be
something special.

Well, I hope your baby wasn't too
generous.

That depends on your meaning and
generosity.

This is a certified check to Mrs.

Hetty Randall in the sum of one million
dollars.

One... One million dollars? You must be
out of your mind, Glover.

I thought she was talking about a few
thousand dollars.

But this, I had no idea. One million
dollars?

Just a nurse?

After more than 20 years in this house?

No, Dad, Hedy's always been more than
just a nurse.

Justin, darling, this, um, this Kauser
Mortis gift stuff, is that legal?

It is, when the gift is actually
delivered and received.

But it's all right.

But I mean the check was never actually
delivered to Hattie.

It doesn't have to be.

Delivery can be legally accomplished
through a third person, as it was

me, acting for the person for whom the
gift was intended.

It's all nonsense.

Completely out of the question.

When B .B. wakes up, we'll simply talk
her out of it, that's all. We'll just

make her tear up that check.

Then what would happen, Justice?

Well, then the bank would release the
money.

The million dollars would revert to the
estate, to be.

Ultimately divided between Chester and
Lawton.

Or the three of you, perhaps?

Eddie, you got back fast.

Well, I caught a cab outside the
drugstore.

I took it a few blocks back here. I
wanted to get this medicine to Mrs.

fast as I could. I'm afraid it won't
help.

Baby's dead.

Ice cold lemonade.

From a secret formula handed down
through upteen generations of friends.

And now the sole and exclusive property
of one more friend.

Mmm. Delicious.

Check with the club, Dad? No problem. We
can have it afternoon and evening both.

Wedding reception and dinner for my son.

and his lovely bride -to -be, Miss
Madeline Randall.

Except by then, she'll be Mrs. Reed
Brandt. How does that sound?

Not bad.

Lawton, seriously, the wedding date, do
you think it's too soon after baby's

death?

Not at all.

I spoke to her. As a matter of fact, she
was insistent.

She said that if she... If something
happened to her, she didn't want the two

you postponing the wedding.

Anybody home?

Hello, Justin.

Good afternoon, Lawton.

How are you, Madeline?

Reed? Well, it's getting pretty close to
D -Day, isn't it?

D -Day or D -Day?

Same difference.

Did you bring the company financial
statement?

Right here.

Will you excuse us, young ones?

I have to run along anyway.

Would you drop me at my mother's, Reed?
Will do.

Oh, by the way, I received a rather
annoying phone call this morning from a

who said he was Hetty Randall's brother.

Max? He must be down for Morgan again.

Yes, that was Max Randall.

If you'll excuse my saying so, he was a
little offensive on the phone.

That doesn't sound like Max.

Apparently, he picked up a bit of
misinformation about a so -called gift

the estate.

A gift? Now, these estate matters are
complicated, time -consuming, and pretty

involved.

How does a gift concern Uncle Max?

Well, it doesn't.

The gift was for Heffy.

A gift for my mother?

Or about your uncle.

It's nothing personal, you understand.

I'll speak to Uncle Max, Mr. Grover.

I'll speak to him and to my mother.

Thank you, that'll be fine.

Well, Larkin, you want to look at the
statement?

Yes, let's go in and study.

Yes, Phoebe did promise me a gift. A
check, she said.

Maybe she just forgot about it, Mom.

No, she didn't.

She told me she asked a doctor to talk
to some outside lawyer for her.

Doctor did.

Told her exactly what the lawyer said
she had to do. She did it.

Herself. She talked to a man at the
bank.

He took care of it for her.

Brought her papers to sign and a
certified check.

She told me so herself.

But I don't understand.

Did you tell a Brent's attorney?

I called Justin Grover this morning.

Oh, you had no right to. Getting him all
riled up like that.

Oh, wasn't that bad, Mom, really?

Oh, bad enough.

I don't see my brother sometimes for
years on end.

Is he busy? No.

Just bumming around from one lumber camp
to another.

Finally, he decides to see whether I'm
dead or alive.

What happens?

He had five minutes, and he's poking his
nose where it doesn't belong.

I've got a right to see you get what's
yours.

Of course you do, Uncle Max.

And I'm sure whatever it was that Aunt
Bebe wanted Mother to have, Mr. Grover

will see that she gets it.

Without anyone pushing him.

See? Madeline talks good sense.

There's no need for anybody to call,
push, do anything.

Nobody here.

Yeah. I've got some shopping to do.

Call you later, Mom, from my apartment.

All right.

Uncle Max, you'll be staying for the
wedding, won't you? Well, of course.

Don't be silly.

That's what I came down for, kitten.

Let's get together for lunch or dinner,
okay?

I don't get to see very much of you, and
you and Mom are the only family I have.

Not after you marry into the Brints.

Oh.

You take care now, Madeline.

All right, Mom.

And that last remark about the family.
Why didn't you just come right out and

say she shouldn't marry a Brent? Maybe I
should have. They're a bunch of gritty

crooks, all of them. That's not true.
Reed's a fine boy.

Is he?

Wasn't he there in that room when B .B.
died?

And you mean to say that he doesn't know
what happened, everything that

happened? I suppose he told her,
Madeline, the girl he's going to marry.

I bet he told her all about it.

Now you look here.

I know what I'm doing.

Oh, Max, I swear outside of knowing how
to cut down a tree, you haven't got the

sense you were born with.

Now, you stay out of this.

Be depressive, Mr. Grover.

He's a smart lawyer.

Oh, right.

I'm no smart lawyer, maybe. But who
needs brains?

This kind of phony fast shuffle, I can
smell.

Oh, Max, you're always... Madeline left
her glove.

Madeline!

What are you talking about, Madeline?

Some sort of gift from Aunt Phoebe to my
mother.

I can't make it any plainer than that.

Phoebe was dying, you know. Everybody
was excited, upset, waiting for the

doctor.

Things could have been said, I suppose.

I mean, things that nobody... At least
not so that everybody could hear.

Oh, Reed, stop double -talking and make
some sense.

Madeline, I'm only trying to explain.

Well, you're doing a miserable job of
it.

Now, just answer one simple question.

Yes or no, did Aunt Bebe do or say
anything about a gift, a check intended

my mother?

Madeline, I told you what it was like in
that room. It's impossible to say

exactly what did happen.

Come on, let's talk about the wedding.

Reed. I told Dad that I'd like to have
some of the old... What is it?

There's something you're not telling me.
Madeline, you've got to understand that

I can.

I thought I knew you.

Knew what kind of a man you were.

The kind of man I wanted to marry.

I hope I wasn't wrong.

Madeline, please.

She knows about the check. Did you think
she wouldn't know? Did you?

Did I lie to protect you?

Read, boy, I need time. Time, you know
that.

Mr. Mason, Aunt Phoebe's doctor told me
he spoke to you and that Aunt Phoebe did

exactly as you advised.

Now, what could be wrong?

Evidently, Mrs. Brent felt that if she
left a bequest to your mother in the

usual way, through her will, there might
be some difficulty.

How? Well, I imagine she felt the
remaining heirs might possibly contest

will. That just can't be, Mr. Mason.

We've lived in that house ever since
Mother was widowed for over 20 years.

We've been like part of the family.

Probate courts are filled with families
fighting over inheritances.

What you're saying, then, is that this
gift couldn't be contested like a will

could. If the gift was given by Mrs.
Brent to Justin Grover as agent for your

mother, it probably couldn't be
contested. Only probably?

Della.

ALR second. I have it marked, Perry.

And the courts have said that a non
-testamentary gift from patient to nurse

invalid on the grounds of undue
influence.

The courts state the fact that the
grantor was lacking in mental vigor as a

reason to protect the grantor. B .B.
Brent wasn't out of her mind, never.

though the mental weakness was not such
as to justify regarding the grantor as

totally incapacitated.

Mr. Mason, at this point, I honestly
don't know whether you're encouraging me

discouraging me.

I'm giving you the situation as it is.

You said that almost as if you intended
to take my mother's case.

Miss Rendell, did you for one moment
imagine I wouldn't?

We'll get on it in the morning.

First a call on the bank, and then a
call on Attorney Justin Grover.

Thank you, Mr. Mason.

Please, listen to me for just a moment.

I know it sounds trite, but whatever you
have to say, I suggest you say it to

Perry Mason, my attorney.

Madeline, I will see your lawyer to tell
him the truth.

I'm listening, Reed.

Apologizing doesn't mean anything.

And I can't explain why.

I can't for the same reason I thought I
had to lie. The same reason why I'm not

living at home.

Yes, you were right. I heard it. I saw
it.

Phoebe said unmistakably it was a gift
to your mother.

An irrevocable gift, she said.

And she gave the million dollar check to
Mr. Grover.

A million dollars?

Didn't you know?

It doesn't matter.

Madeline, I love you. Please believe
that.

I love you and I want to marry you.

A million dollars.

Hello? Well, this is Justin Grover. I'd
like to speak to Hattie Randall, please.

My mother isn't here, Mr. Grover. This
is Madeline, and I'd like to talk to

Reed Brent was just here, and he told me
that... I don't care what Reed or

anybody in the family told you. He told
me about the check.

The million dollars.

Now I want to know why you kept that
check.

Well, since your mother isn't there and
you're determined to involve yourself in

this, I'll talk to you in an hour, Miss
Randall. If you come here to my house

alone, I'll tell you why.

Justin! Justin Grover!

No, lady.

There wasn't.

I told you I would speak with him in the
morning.

Why did you go to Justin Grover's house
that night?

I spoke to him on the phone. He said
that if I'd come over in an hour, he'd

me what I wanted to know.

You reached his house. He didn't answer
the bell.

The door was open, so you just walked
in.

Yes. No.

What? The front door was locked.

I closed it after I came in.

The back door was jimmied open.

Well, then the police must think that
I... Roll connected.

Specifications one and two on a charge
of burglary.

And burglary, Miss Randall, is a felony.

Mr. Mason?

We're here to help you, Miss Randall.

But we must know exactly what we're
faced with.

Now, front door was open. You no sooner
walked into the house than you heard a

noise. He went into the kitchen.

Tripped and fell against the table. And
you saw a man in the kitchen?

Yes, in the shadows, in the rear of the
kitchen.

His back was to me, but I suppose it was
Justin Grover.

Justin Grover's body was found behind
the desk on the study floor.

Mr. Mason, I told you. When I came to,
there was fire and smoke. I was

frightened. I ran to the house looking
for a way out. I ran into the study or

whatever it was, and the briefcase was
on the desk, and I just grabbed it. And

didn't see Grover's body, not ten feet
away.

I told you the place was filled with
smoke.

Mr. Mason, I didn't deliberately set
fire to the house.

Why am I here?

When the policeman stopped you outside
the house, you had Justin Grover's

briefcase. Of course, the papers were in
there on my mother's check.

That briefcase was Grover's personal
property.

Taking it from the house made you
technically guilty of burglary.

Are they going to try me for that?

No, you'll be tried under the felony
murder rule.

By definition, under the law, committing
a felony is acting maliciously.

And that malicious, felonious act is the
proximate cause of the death of a human

being, even an accidental death. The
malice of the felony becomes the malice

forethought in the death.

And you end up with homicide.

I'm afraid, Mr. Randall, you're not only
going to be charged with murder, but

murder in the first degree.

We sign here, and here, and here.

Just a legal form is for court to
recover that check when the authorities

release it.

Hedy, why would a dying woman give one
million

dollars to a nurse?

Why not?

We were good friends.

You're lying, Hedy.

You know, but you won't tell.

It doesn't make any difference.

It could make the difference between
life and death for your daughter.

No, that's not true.

Hattie, are you afraid the truth might
hurt your daughter?

I, uh, I think you'd better leave now.

Both of you.

Hattie, please, listen to me.

You're a famous man, Mr. Mason.

The best lawyer there is.

You'll get her off, I know.

All right, Dylan.

Let's go.

you private eyes are the same, just like
the movies.

All you have to do is smile, and the
girls are supposed to swoon.

Well, stop with the smile, Seamus. This
one doesn't swoon.

I just thought you could tell me what
the police found out about your boss in

the Brits.

Look, mister, I was private secretary to
Mr. Defton Grover, Esquire, and private

gun flu means just that, private.

Well, save a gear.

No, thanks. I don't smoke.

Say it again. Say it again, what you
just said.

No, thanks. I don't smoke.

I knew it. I knew it.

Carla Eden.

I thought I'd seen you before in Abe
Schooler's private projection room. Best

friend I got, Abe. He's head talent
scout for the network.

Sure, I should have remembered. The
three screen tests for the running lead

the series.

You're one of the girls they tested.

The network?

No, that's a dumb mistake, wasn't you?

Well, look, mister. Poor Abe.

He thought he'd rounded up the three
best -looking gals in town.

But he hasn't seen you, no sirree.

For this friend, Abe.

Abe what?

Schooler. Oh, no, please.

This Abe Schooler.

Did you say he was a talent scout?

Before you are notified in the usual
manner, I think it's best to talk the

situation over.

We might possibly avoid unnecessary and
expensive litigation.

That's just lawyer language to tell us
that you're going to try to shoehorn us

out of a million dollars.

I thought you were representing a girl,
not the nurse.

Both. Naturally.

Murder defenses are oh so expensive.

Never send call for her, Eloise.

My, my, the saintly one of the brothers
with his noblesse oblige.

I take it you're prepared to keep your
pinky properly elevated while you turn

over your half million.

Not his and not mine.

Hattie won't get one penny of that
money, I promise you.

That isn't so, Chester. She will.

After my son and I... After we both
testify.

All right.

We know now where we stand.

There were four of us in that room.

You and your son say yes, the check was
delivered.

We say no, it wasn't.

Unfortunately for the no -brains, the
score isn't two to two, but three to

Well, what do you know?

I take it the late Justin Grover will
testify by a Ouija board.

Or will the court prefer table wrapping
and ectoplasm? Neither.

In his office diary, Justin Grover
executed a full statement acknowledging

he had, as agent for Hedy Randall,
received that check.

B .B. Brent was sick, half out of her
mind.

B .B. Brent's personal physician is
prepared to testify that mentally she

completely competent.

But a million dollars to a nurse, that
doesn't make sense.

Oh, yes, it does.

You all know Lieutenant Anderson.

I sure do, Perry.

We've been seeing a lot of each other.

About the gift to Hattie Randall?

Yes, the check.

Well, it wasn't actually meant for the
nurse.

From what we could tell, Hattie Randall
was just a go -between.

The million dollars was meant for
somebody else.

Somebody else.

Madeline Randall?

I'm afraid that's right.

Madeline Randall.

You see, actually, Madeline Randall is B
.B. Brent's daughter.

B .B.'s husband, my late brother Philip,

went on a business trip to Europe.

That was over 20 years ago.

That was the trip on which B .B.'s
husband was caught in an avalanche while

skiing and officially reported dead?

That's right.

It wasn't until about 14 months later
that I got word that a man was found in

small hospital.

A man who might be my brother.

B .B. was away on a trip.

She had been for some time.

So I went to Europe to investigate.

And was it your brother?

What was left of him.

He didn't even recognize me.

Really? Did he recognize anyone in the
family?

Oh, B .B. once I got him home.

Tell me, Mr. Grant, how long did your
brother Philip live after you brought

home? Until a few months ago.

All those years of slow death for B .B.

Taking care of him just about killed
her, I guess.

Well, when Chester called from
Switzerland that he had found Phil

immediately wired B .B. She was in
Oregon at the time, I believe.

You mean she was living in Oregon?

I'm pretty sure it was Oregon.

You see, 14 months after Phil's death,
she was running so hard and so fast that

it was simply impossible to keep up with
her.

What do you mean running, Mrs. Bent?

Well, I suppose she really did love her
husband.

And when the report of his death came to
her, well, the poor girl simply went to

pieces. I mean, she never was very
stable, you know, mentally. Well, I

take the matter of that check.

Not right now, Mrs. Brent, please.
That's a matter for another

Now, would you tell this court in what
way during those 14 months B .B. Brent

went to pieces?

Well, there was this cowboy, or whatever
the man did for a living.

Cowboy? That must have been in Nevada.

So, of course, Chester went to
investigate.

Well, by the time he got there, she had
gone and he never did locate this cowboy

creature. I see.

Now, when you learned that her husband
was still alive and you wired her in

Oregon, did she return at once?

Well, actually, no.

You see, she wired back that she was
driving down, but it was some time

she arrived in Los Angeles.

We got a message.

B .B. had been injured in an automobile
accident in a little town north of San

Francisco. And she arrived about a week
later. You see, it was nothing serious.

I mean, she was just sort of shaken up.

Or so I thought at the time.

I have here authenticated birth records
and hospital admittance records, plus

the sworn statements of two doctors and
a nurse, all of whom have identified

photographs of you and B .B. Brent.

And who are prepared to swear that not
you, but B .B. Brent, was the mother of

the defendant.

Do you wish at this time to deny this?

No.

There wouldn't be much sense to that.

I was B .B.'s nurse.

B .B. was Madeline's mother.

There she was, poor girl, hurting that
auto smash -up.

Her baby coming sooner than she
expected.

Her own true legal husband, whom she
thought was dead.

was on his way home to her.

He was sick.

A man you couldn't talk to, explain
things to.

She didn't know what to do.

I lied on the records.

Said I was married.

Listed the child as my own.

Bebe needed help with Mr. Brent.

And it gave her a chance to see her own
child whenever she wanted to.

Bebe loved her.

Truly loved her.

We both did.

She had two mothers, my little Madeline.

Then you knew all about the check Bebe
planned to give you.

Not for me.

It was for Madeline.

Bebe had it planned.

She would give me the check as a gift.
And I would set up a trust fund for

Madeline.

Mr. Branch, you've already been declared
a hostile witness.

And I warn you, I shall move to have you
cited for contempt unless you are more

responsive.

Now, when you saw Madeline Randall early
that evening, was she aware that that

check was meant for her?

How should I know? I'm not a mind
reader.

Mr. Brandt.

Did she say or do anything to indicate
her knowledge that it was her money

Justin Grover was withholding and not
her mother? No, nothing.

You're sure of that? Of course I'm sure.

She didn't even know how much the check
was for.

But you told her, didn't you?

Yes, I told her.

Phil, Phoebe's husband, founded the
business.

and owned it.

Chester and I worked for him.

When Phil Brandt finally returned from
his skiing accident, did he continue to

run the business?

His condition made that impossible.

Beebe ran the business through Justin
Grover, the company attorney.

Nominally, I was president of the
company.

And your resistance, shall we say, to
Beebe Brandt's gift to her nurse was

because you thought that might adversely
affect the company?

Yes.

Phoebe respected Phil's love of the
business, his desire that it remain with

brothers. She didn't know even then, any
more than I did, that the company was

in urgent need of all the capital in
Phil's estate.

And that urgent need of the company was
why you all fought against payment of

the check.

The business was in delicate condition
financially.

I wanted to strengthen the company's
position financially before the gift was

publicized. Did you ever hear the
defendant admit that she knew, knew as a

that Justin Grover was withholding a $1
million check that belonged to her.

She... She said she knew about the
check, how much it was for, after

she spoke to my son.

And you spoke to her after your son
spoke to her, isn't that correct?

So you then went to see her to explain,
is that it?

And to apologize.

And beg her forgiveness.

And she told you then that she knew the
check was hers?

Mr. Berger, for what happened, we must
all share responsibility.

You're not answering what I asked you,
Mr. Brent.

I said, did she say anything to indicate
that she knew that check was hers?

She told me that she knew Bebe, not
Hetty, was her mother.

She was upset, Mr. Berger. What else did
she say about the check?

She said she would get that check back
from Justin Grover, even if... I'm

Madeline. I'm desperately sorry.

She would get her own check back from
Justin Grover, even if she had to light

fire under him to get it.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Mason,

you haven't questioned one of the
witnesses thus far in the preliminary

Do you wish to cross -examine this
witness?

No questions, Your Honor.

Not a word in the courtroom all day, and
nothing since we've been in the office.

Here's your coffee.

Perry, do you feel all right?

I'm fine.

Now, how'd you do?

That crystal ball you have hidden
somewhere is batting a cool thousand

There was a shortage. Yep. The Brent
brothers' little business came up 150

short in preliminary probate.
Embezzlement.

Get anything from Carl Eden?

Justin Grover's secretary is a real cute
one.

Insurance shammas, says she. A girl's
got to look out for number one.

Well, she did.

Caught you the price of a privately shot
screen test, directed by one Abe

schooler whom I've never laid eyes on
before in my life.

I've known him for years. He called and
I okayed it.

Well, what did you find out?

Well, I told her I'd heard a whisper
here and there, and she might just as

confirm it for me. Finally, she did.

Justin Grover's been running around with
some woman strictly on the QT.

Identity of said woman? Unknown.

Harry, you knew there would be a
shortage.

Do you know who's responsible for it?

Who the embezzler was?

Yes, Paul told me.

I did?

Did I also tell you who Grover's
girlfriend was?

Of course.

Well, would you mind telling me what I
told you so I'll know, too?

Paul, as soon as you've checked in some
things for me, you'll know who killed

Justin Grover, too. But if Madeline
Radnall was responsible for his death, I

mean, she did start the fire.

Did she?

Well, when that signal sounded, I just
grabbed up a pad and went scooting into

the office.

Let me tell you, Mr. Grover didn't care
to be kept waiting when he sounded that

signal. Miss Eden. Only a couple of days
before that when he sounded that

signal, I was given a piece of his mind.
Miss Eden, please. Let me tell you.

Oh, did you say something?

Yes. Yes, I did.

I asked you, Miss Eden, whether the
defendant, Madeline Randall, was aware

Justin Grover had deliberately signaled
you to interrupt her conversation with

him. Oh, sure she was.

She pointed that out to me herself.

And she was real mad, too. And what did
she say at that time?

I'll be seeing him, she said, whether he
likes it or not.

Thank you.

All right, Mrs. Taylor, you testified
that you lived next door to the decedent

Justin Grover.

And that on the night in question, you
heard voices raised in argument next

door. Is that correct?

That's right. His voice, Mr. Grover's
poor man, and another voice.

Could you tell if this other voice was a
woman's voice?

I couldn't say for sure. It might have
been, it might not have been.

I see. The defendant, in her statement
to the police, claimed that she entered

the house and within a minute or less
was unconscious in the kitchen.

Would what you heard bear that out?

I'm afraid not, sir.

They'd been at it for 15 minutes, the
two of them.

I phoned the police and the police
didn't get there for another 10 minutes.

When my partner and I arrived, the place
was starting to burn real bad.

He went around to the front and I took
the back.

And what happened?

I saw her, the defendant, running out
the back door. She was heading for the

back gate.

I stopped her. She was carrying that
briefcase. I took it from her.

There was a severe laceration and
contusions on the head caused by a blow

some blunt object.

But the immediate cause of Justin
Grover's death was carbon monoxide

Brought on by what, Doctor?

Smoke.

Legally, the proximate cause of Justin
Grover's death was that fire.

Your Honor.

When the defendant is charged with a
murder committed during the perpetration

a burglary, the only criminal intent the
prosecution has to show is the specific

intent to burglarize the victim.

The state is not required to prove a
deliberate, premeditated killing, or

to approve the intent to kill.

Burglary of an inhabited dwelling place
in the nighttime is a felony.

In this case, we had entry without
consent.

We had a clear intent to burglarize and
we had possession of stolen property.

Therefore, Your Honor, under Penal Code
Section 189 concerning homicide

perpetrated during the commission of a
burglary, I move under the felony murder

rule that the defendant Madeline Randall
be bound over to Superior Court on a

charge of murder in the first degree.

Mr. Mason, before ruling on the motion,
May I ask if you plan to present a

defense at this hearing?

I do, Your Honor.

Please proceed.

May I call the attention of the court to
the fact that under the felony murder

rule, the doing of the act does not
establish the existence of the intent.

And the prosecution must present
independent evidence of the intent to

May I further respectfully point out to
the court that motive and intent are not

synonymous. The court will take note of
your comments, Mr. Mason.

Defense calls as its first witness, Max
Randall.

When Madeline met Reed, she found out
there'd been a check and the amount of

that check.

She went into the house, answered
Grover's call, went home to her own

met Lawton Brent.

At that time, she not only knew about
the check, but she knew that she was B

Brent's daughter.

She found that out from you, Mr.
Randall, did she not?

Oh, yes, I thought she should know.

Not out of any concern for your own
possible enrichment, but purely out of

concern for your sister and for Madeline
Randall. That's right.

You were fond of the girl?

Yes, fond.

Fond enough when Madeline went home to
go yourself to Justin Grover's house.

Yes, I went there.

Went in through the back gate, Jimmy'd
open the back door and went into the

kitchen. Yes.

Why, Mr. Randall?

Well... When Madeline left me, I got to
thinking.

I knew that check was certified, that it
was good, that the bank would honor it.

I, well, I decided to get it for the
girl.

What happened, Mr. Randall? Oh, nothing.
I never got beyond the kitchen.

The place was dark. I heard the front
doorbell ring, somebody coming in.

I turned to leave and I bumped into a
table or something and knocked it into

middle of the room. It was Madeline just
entering the house who...

Heard you in the kitchen and came in.

Came in, tripped, hit her head, and fell
unconscious to the floor.

I was panicky. I just ran. I got out and
ran.

I didn't know it was Madeline laying on
the floor.

I didn't know she was going there.

Max, all those years, why was Madeline's
identity kept secret?

Madeline?

A pretty helpless little thing.

And he didn't want her to know her real
mother had no legal right to marry while

her husband was alive, even though she
didn't know he was.

And that Madeline was... was therefore
illegitimate.

When B .B. thought her husband had been
killed, she remarried.

Oh, it was kind of a wild, crazy sort of
thing.

You know, a woman brokenhearted because
the man she loved, really loved, had

just been killed.

She was that one at the end of a rope.

One night she...

Well, she wasn't drunk or anything like
that, but she was really down, sick

inside.

Anyway, she and, well, this other guy,
they ran off and got married.

Then B .B. heard that her first husband
was still alive.

Max, when you told Madeline that B .B.
Brent was her mother, did you tell her

that you were her father?

Did you, Max?

No.

You were there in that house before
either Max or Madeline.

Yes, I was there considerably earlier.

To tell Justin Grover that you knew who
had embezzled $150 ,000 from the

company. Yes. When Phoebe became
seriously ill, I had the company books

I discovered the shortage then.

And suspected your brother Chester?

Yes. That's why you pleaded with your
son for time.

To find out the truth.

To help Chester make restitution to keep
your brother out of jail.

Chester was greedy, but not that greedy.

He was not the embezzler.

Then you discovered the truth.

That the embezzler was Justin Grover
himself.

You went to his house, confronted him.

What did he say?

He insisted that from the moment B .B.
made the gift of the check, he'd been

desperately trying to return to the
company the money that he had taken.

Had he returned the money? Some of it.

I left because he was expecting a
visitor.

Someone who was involved in the
embezzlement with him.

Someone who might return the rest of the
money. This visitor.

Did Justin Grover tell you his visitor
was a woman?

A woman he'd been seeing for years,
secretly?

No.

No, it isn't true.

Sure, I saw him every now and then, but
it wasn't me. It couldn't have been me.

Oh, Jesse, you've got to believe me. I
didn't.

I swear I didn't. Why don't you just
shut up?

Well, maybe I did know.

But that was no reason for my blabbing
so much to that detective of yours.

Justin Grover had been seeing Eloise
Brent.

Well, I certainly don't blame him. The
way she was... Well, you know what I

mean. The way she was always throwing
herself at him.

Justin Grover and Eloise Brent.

Breaking not one, but two commandments.

He coveted another man's wife, and
together they robbed a Brent company of

a quarter of a million dollars.

Oh, no, it was only $150 ,000.

Oh, well, as I told your detective, they
were

just very close, and that's all I know.

Of course.

By the way, the screen test Mr. Drake
arranged for you with Abe Schooler, did

come out all right?

Oh, uh... Oh, yeah, sure.

Great. As great as your first screen
test?

My first?

Abe Schooler has an amazing memory, not
for names, but for faces.

He remembered yours from a screen test
you took three years ago at Major

I... I don't understand.

Don't you remember the contract you were
offered? The contract that was to start

at $500 a week?

Five... Then suddenly you didn't take
that contract.

Instead, you went to work for Grover.

That $100 a week.

Why, Carla?

You don't know what you're talking
about.

The shamans.

Mr. Paul Drake.

The detective you thought you'd stalled
and lied to and made fun of.

He did some checking, Carla.

He found a little suburban bank where
you keep your safe deposit box.

You tell us what's in that box, Carla?

Or must we get a court order from the
judge?

Oh, that fool.

That stupid fool.

Ethics, he said.

All of a sudden, legal ethics were
keeping him awake nights.

His conscience was bothering him.

I worked with him for three years
building the company of that money.

Three years!

I had over $100 ,000 in that box.

He insisted you return him?

Yes. He was going to call the police to
turn us both in.

I tried to stop him.

We struggled.

I picked something up from the desk and
I hid it. You were there hidden in the

house when Max came in when Madeline
struck her head and fell unconscious.

Tell me, Colin.

Max was gone.

Justin and the girl were unconscious.

That defective heater by itself wasn't
enough to start the fire.

You helped start that fire, didn't you?

All I could think of was how to stop him
from talking.

The heater was leaking gas.

Burning.

So I grabbed the window curtains and I
tossed them near the heater.

The fire really started to burn then.

I went back to the study and Justin was
lying there.

I left him there.

And I went outside, and I drove away in
my car.

Well, I couldn't give him back that
money.

It was mine.

Mine.

I had to have it.

What are you going to use the money for
now, Carla?

Here you are, Perry.

That's what you ordered.

Hey, Max, this is for you.

California codes.

It's marked. Read section 85.

You said something on the stand about
Madeline.

A misconception a lot of people have.

The issue of a marriage which is void or
annulled or dissolved by divorce is

legitimate.

There you are.

Madeline Randall has always been
legitimate.

Madeline Brand, if you please. And don't
tell me there's anything wrong with

that. Hey, how about that?

That's right, Dad.

How about that?