Original subtitles

He gave me this ticket for blocking an aisle during the rush hour.

I don't understand. I was in the slow lane.

I'd just stopped a moment at the condiment shelf where the store's having

-acquainted sale on low -calorie calories.

Tonight's play is not unrelated to this milieu.

It is called Lamb to the Slaughter. But before we see it...

The store has asked that I direct your attention to their very best bargain.

Hello, love.

Darling, something the matter?

Are they badgering you about that Minotti case again?

Is that what's the trouble?

Well, try not to think about it for a while. I hate to see you get all tired

worried like this.

Darling, why don't you take off your coat and...

You can sit yourself down comfortably and relax.

We certainly don't have to go out to dinner if you don't want to.

I'll call Molly and tell her you're much too tired.

Would you like me to do that?

She'll understand. I know she will.

Well, I'll cook you some nice supper right here at home.

There's plenty of meat in the freezer.

We'll have a nice roast.

It'll just take a little longer to cook, that's all.

While it's in the oven, I'll step out to the corner and get some vegetables.

Oh, before I forget, I must tell you.

Old Mrs. Keating gave me the ring test today. You know, where they have a ring

on a bit of string and dangle it over your tummy?

And guess what?

It's a boy.

There's absolutely no doubt about it, she says.

She's never been wrong yet in her whole life.

Isn't that exciting?

Where are you going?

Well, out to the garage to get the meat out of the freezer.

Sit down.

Sit down a minute.

Patrick, what is all this?

What's wrong, darling?

Please tell me.

This is going to come as a bit of a shock to you.

I hope you won't blame me too much.

I'd never blame you for anything, darling. You know that.

The truth is, Mary, I want to leave you.

You understand me, don't you?

I want to leave you.

You don't mean that.

Yes, I do mean it.

And what's more, I want a divorce.

With someone else I want to marry.

That really is all there is to it.

I love her, and she loves me.

Now, we've got to be sensible about it all.

Calm and sensible.

I'll arrange for the divorce.

Naturally, you can have the baby when it comes.

You'll have some money.

Sorry, I can't give you a lot.

But you'll get along all right.

I'll get you your supper.

Get what?

Oh, yes.

Yes, you must have your supper, darling.

I wouldn't ever let you go without your supper.

You'll feel better when you've had something to eat.

What are you doing?

I'm leaving.

Patrick, you can't.

You can't go. You can't. You can't. No.

Patrick, I won't let you. I won't. I won't. I won't. There's no sense getting

hysterical about this whole thing.

Patrick, I mean it.

Try and stop me.

Hello, Molly?

Listen, darling, Patrick's just come home and he's utterly exhausted.

Poor thing.

Yeah, he's had a terribly rough day.

So I was just wondering, would you mind terribly if we didn't come over tonight?

I knew you wouldn't.

You're an angel, Molly.

No, no, no. It's nothing like that. He's just been working too hard. That's all.

Well, maybe we'll see you over the weekend.

Yeah, that would be lovely.

Yes. Goodbye, dear.

Bye.

Thank you.

Give me the police, quickly.

You've got to help us, Mrs. Maloney.

You think you can pull yourself together now and talk to me a little?

Yes, I'll try.

I'll do my best.

Now tell me, is this exactly what the room looked like when you walked in?

Yes.

You haven't touched a thing?

Well, all except Patrick.

I came in the front door, and I saw him lying there like that, and I... You did

what when you saw him?

Well, I tried to talk to him, and then I saw that he was dead, and I ran to the

phone. I see.

Now, what time is it when you went out? Can you tell us that?

Oh, I think it was about 20 minutes ago.

Well, it's 6 .14 now. You think it was around 5 or 6?

Yes, I think so.

Print man and photographer coming in now. No, I want to see them. And we've

a man out front and one at the back. Good.

All right, now listen, fellas.

Let's have a real thorough job here. Take all the time you need.

Chief. Mike, you tell them what we want. And get some pictures right away before

the doc comes along and starts shoving things about. Okay, get going.

Mrs. Maloney, do you usually go out shopping so late?

Excuse me, but I have to ask you these questions.

Oh, I understand.

Well, no, I don't.

As a matter of fact, we were going out for dinner tonight with some friends,

Patrick seemed so terribly tired that I just called up and canceled.

Now, who did you call?

Molly. Molly Vandenor. They live on South Street.

And when your husband came in, did it seem to you that there might have been

something on his mind?

Do you think he was worried about anything?

No, no.

Not especially. He just seemed terribly tired.

I see.

When he first came in, I... Oh, excuse me.

Who did it?

No idea.

See what you can find out, will you, Doc?

Is that his wife?

Yes. You better take her to the next room.

Okay.

Let's go into another room for a while, shall we?

You'll be more comfortable there, and then we can talk easier, too.

I don't want to. I want to stay here.

Please let me stay. I'll be all right.

You got something cooking in the kitchen here?

Yes. Yes, that was his supper.

But I thought you didn't have any supper in the house. Wasn't that why you went

out? Well, yes, but I had to get some vegetables. I had plenty of meat. I

keep plenty of meat in the freezer.

Well?

Looks like a severely fractured base to me.

Just one blow, right on the back of the head.

What width can you make a guess?

I can't up to a point, yes.

It's bound to be something heavy.

That's obvious.

But it isn't sharp.

At least I don't think there are any sharp edges on it.

Well, why do you say that?

Well, look for yourself. The skin on the scalp isn't even broken.

It isn't a hammer, for instance.

More like a large club of some sort.

A club?

Yes. Something shaped like a club, anyway.

Smooth and rounded at the end.

That's my guess.

See you later, Doc.

Let me know as soon as you're through with the lab. I'll do that.

Is this glass dusted?

Yeah.

Mrs. Maloney, you said you didn't notice anything particularly unusual about

your husband's behavior when he came in this evening.

No, no, not especially.

He just seemed terribly tired.

I see he had a drink.

Yes, he always had a drink when he came home from work.

He usually took soda, didn't he?

Yes, I guess so.

And ice, of course.

Mm -hmm.

This evening he took it straight.

And with his coat on, right?

Yes, I suppose he did.

Now, think hard, Mrs. Maloney, please.

He comes in the door.

So what's the first thing he does after that?

He kissed me.

Now, wait, and please excuse me for asking these questions, but I'm simply

trying to find out whether or not there was something on your husband's mind

when he came home.

You're quite sure he kissed you?

It wasn't you that kissed him.

He kissed me.

Okay.

I walk straight over there, and he pours himself a shot of neat whiskey, am I

right?

Mm -hmm.

Well... He doesn't usually have a drink before he takes his coat off, does he?

No, I guess not.

You saw all this, and you still didn't think he was a worried man?

I told you, I just thought that he was very tired.

You know what I think, Mrs. Maloney?

I think he was desperately worried.

And if we can only find out why this was, then perhaps we'll be able to get

somewhere.

Well, I wish I could help you more.

The other thing I want to find is the weapon.

Hey, Mike.

Now, look, I want you to go outside right away and comb every inch of the

garden. Have those fellas out there help you.

See what you can find. Get some flashlights.

I'll check the rest of the house.

Right.

Mrs. Maloney.

Yes. You know, somehow I don't believe that this was premeditated murder.

Nor was it a professional job.

I think it was a quarrel. And then someone lost their temper.

And then, well, perhaps this person, whoever it was, simply grabbed wholesome

object that happened to be close at hand and swung at your husband.

The point is this.

If I'm right, then the weapon they used was probably something that was already

in this house.

Now then, here's where you may be able to help us out.

First of all, can you tell me if there's anything missing from this room that

could have been used as a weapon?

Take your time.

Well, I'm not sure what sort of thing you mean.

Well, something like a club, for instance.

A club?

You mean something like a baseball bat?

Yes, exactly.

No, there isn't any baseball bat in the house.

All right, how about a door stopper or a heavy metal vase or, well, anything you

like. You understand what I mean, don't you?

Well, yes, I think so.

Just, well, it's so hard to remember everything that's in the house.

Well, perhaps you wouldn't mind coming along with me while I go over the rooms

one by one.

Are you nearly through now?

Uh -huh.

Say, what time have you got?

It's a quarter past ten.

Hi, Mrs. Maloney.

Yes?

You're quite sure you wouldn't want someone to take you over to Mrs. Vanden

Heuvel's house tonight?

Oh, no, thank you. I couldn't go anywhere at the moment.

Then you ought to go to bed and lie down.

Either Mike or I will be around all night, so you don't have to worry.

It's all right. I may do that.

There's something fishy about this case.

Go on.

I don't believe there ever was a fight in this room.

I think someone purposely fixed it up afterwards to make it look as though

there'd been one.

You do?

I'll tell you why.

It isn't humanly possible to club a man hard on the back of the head right here

in the middle of a fight.

Not unless there were two people.

That's right.

But I don't think there were two people.

Or unless he got knocked out during the fight and the other fella hit him while

he was lying on the floor.

Nobody knocked him out first.

There isn't a single bruise or scratch on his entire body.

Oh, only when he was hit.

And another thing.

He was carrying a gun, wasn't he?

Sure was.

And why'd he draw it?

You know why?

Because he didn't even realize he was being threatened.

Well, in that case, the killer was probably someone he knew pretty well.

Exactly.

You think it could have been a woman?

Why do you say that?

Well, you know, as well as I do, our friend here used to fool around a bit

and again.

Yeah.

I see what you mean.

Well, anyway, we've got to find that weapon.

Didn't anybody think to turn off that oven?

Whatever it is, it'll sure as heck be ruined by now.

Hey, that looks all right.

It sure does.

That's mighty peculiar, isn't it?

I'd have thought it would have been burnt to a crisp by now.

Yeah, me too.

Or maybe it takes longer, according to how big it is.

Well, this is a big one, all right.

Yeah, down right it's big.

Jack, would you turn that off for me, please?

It's all right. It's not spoiled.

I can see that.

What I really came in for was to ask if you'd like to have a cup of coffee.

You must be terribly tired by now, both of you.

I'm just sorry I didn't think of it sooner.

Well, that isn't necessary, ma 'am. You mustn't bother about us.

Oh. Well, Patrick would never forgive me if I didn't look after you properly.

He always used to tell me how grateful he was in the old days when somebody

would offer him a cup of coffee and he couldn't get home for a meal.

He said that's the least you can do when somebody's trying to help you out.

Well, it certainly is good of you. It sure is.

I tell you what, why don't you help yourself to some of this, too?

No, we couldn't do that, Mrs. Maloney. Wouldn't dream of it.

We'll be sending out for a couple of sandwiches in a little while. Oh, no,

please. Eat this instead.

I only have to throw it out if you don't.

What about you, ma 'am?

Me? Oh, no, I couldn't touch a thing, believe me.

Give some to the others, too.

They must be absolutely famished by this time, particularly those two standing

out there in the cold.

Ask them all in, why don't you, and give them a nice hot meal.

It's very good meat, I promise you that.

Boy, this is great. A piece of meat I've had in months.

She said to finish it, didn't she, Jack? She did.

I'd like to have a piece of this brown, crispy stuff left on the end here.

Supposed to be all right to take this bone home to my dog?

Yeah, she said she'd never want to see it again.

That old man cooked it. He missed a real good meal.

Not so loud, fellas. Take it easy.

Got any dope in this case yet, Jack?

Not a lot.

No one's found the weapon.

Doc says it's probably some sort of a club.

You mean like a shillelagh or something?

No, something heavy anyway.

Must have weighed about eight or nine pounds.

Well, whoever did it, they're not going to carry a thing like that around longer

than they need.

Personally, I think it's here on the premises.

Well, for all we know, it might be right under our very noses.

Well, that's the way the old meatball bounces.

As for Mary Maloney, she would have gone scot -free if she hadn't tried to do in

her second husband the same way.

Unfortunately, he was the forgetful type and had forgotten to plug in the

freezer.

The meat was as soft as jelly.

Speaking of plugs, that is precisely what our sponsor wants to do for his

product, after which I'll wheel back.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, those of us who work in television have a

technical term for this part of the program.

We call it the end.

Next week, we should be back with another story.

I must be going. I can't risk another ticket. Good night.