Original subtitles

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that heartfelt and technically augmented

cheer.

Will the delegates please clear the aisles. Return to your seats, please.

I have an announcement.

Will the delegate from Yugoslavia please report here at once?

The credentials committee suspects you may have made a mistake.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to place in nomination a friend of,

a steadfast champion for, and a man who I'm certain you have

already guessed his identity.

If not, I shall give you a hint.

He is the producer of the following television play.

Hey, can you tell me where I can find a taxi?

I think there's one uptown.

Nobody comes to Kirkland as a rule.

Unless they got folks here to fetch them.

Say, have there been any other strange men come in on the train the past two

days? No, sir.

And safe to say, I see everybody gets off at this station.

It's yours who you can remember to do one thing.

If a strange man does come in on the train, you're to call the Grand Hotel

ask for Henry Taylor.

That's me.

If I'm out, you leave word to the clerk. You understand?

Yeah, Henry Taylor.

Well, don't worry, Mr. Taylor.

I never forget a name or a face.

And you needn't mention it to anyone.

Not to anyone.

Not a soul, Mr. Taylor.

Is there something I can do for you?

I'd like to arrange to open an account.

Mr. Kern handles new accounts, but he's in conference just now.

Won't you wait?

Mr. Spangler will do nicely.

Mr. Kern is in conference with Mr. Spangler.

If I didn't come in now and then to keep a check on you, William, you'd have my

bank in receivership.

You can take me out today, Sam.

Oh, what, sir?

I should have left you in charge here instead of my idiot son -in -law.

Don't jostle me now.

I can't stand being jostled.

All right, young lady, open that gate.

You're not an employee.

That's right, I'm not.

You couldn't be an employee too wide awake.

You must be a customer.

I hope to be.

New account?

Come here and take care of this gentleman.

Fifty -five years I was president of this bank, and in all that time I never

failed to shake hands with every new accountant.

That's one thing folks could always say about Josiah Wingate.

All right, Sam, roll me out of the car.

Miss Foster, that gentleman wants to see me. Don't keep him waiting.

Josiah Wingate, my father -in -law. He founded this bank.

They get difficult as they grow older.

Yes, yes, they do.

He can't seem to adjust to retirement.

Won't you sit down, Mr... Taylor.

Henry Taylor.

I have a letter of credit from my bank in Chicago.

I'd like to deposit some funds in your bank while I'm here doing some research.

Oh? Research in what field, Mr. Taylor? Perhaps I can be of assistance.

I'm sure you can.

It's for a book I'm doing on the subject of unsolved crime.

And you came here to Kirkland to do research?

That's right. If you've seen a newspaper in the past two days, you must know

that Arnold Mathias is dead.

He was shot down while attempting to break out of state prison.

His cellmate, Thomas Henry, escaped, but Mathias was killed.

I, uh...

I did hear a newscast.

And this is the bank where Matthias was employed in December of 1957.

You didn't have to come to Kirkland to learn that.

No, I didn't, but there are a few things I did have to come to Kirkland to find

out.

Let's go over a few points, Mr. Spangler.

Arnold Matthias was an employee here.

Hired by my father -in -law prior to his retirement and against my advice.

Because Matthias had a criminal record?

A juvenile record.

Let's not make matters worse than they are, Mr. Taylor.

See, my father -in -law has a philanthropic streak where young people

concerned.

Matthias came from a broken home.

The usual story.

Mr. Wingate wanted to give him a chance.

And I wanted to protect our depositors.

But you kept him on after you succeeded Mr. Wingate.

There was no reason not to keep him on.

He was a willing worker, apparently honest.

Then in the summer of 57, the Dyer Construction Company transferred $500

cash from their St. Louis bank to meet the local payroll on the flood control

dam at the basin. We had it placed in the vault.

Mr. Spangler, may I see you a moment, sir?

What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed in the vault. Besides, I

thought everyone had gone home.

Well, they did, sir. I had to stay and check these reports. You know the rule

that no one is permitted in the vault area but Mr. Kern and myself.

I just wanted to see about my cash reports. I can't make them balance.

Well, then go back to your cage and recheck the figures until you do.

Try it again, son. Try it again.

First time Matthias has worked late since you've hired him.

Just a coincidence.

I hope so.

It was only a few weeks later that my father -in -law suffered the stroke

necessitated his retirement.

I was left with full responsibility.

We were all busy.

Matthias worked late more frequently.

Particularly on Friday when the dire payroll had to be checked out against

remaining funds.

There were two keys to the box.

Kern kept one.

I kept the other.

Sam Kern's son was playing his first basketball game for State U that night.

Sam's wife had telephoned three times to remind him that they needed an early

start if they were going to make it over icy roads.

Naturally, he thought it was his wife calling again.

Sam returned with tragic news.

It had been my telephone ringing, not his.

It was our housekeeper saying that my wife had suffered a severe heart attack.

I left at once.

There are four checks here that aren't covered, Mr. Kern. In the same account?

Yes, sir.

Let me see them.

Arnold, I can't get my car started. Can you give me a push? Certainly, Mr.

Spangler. But it'll take me a few minutes to get my car and bring it

front.

You told me not to leave that old heap of mine on the lot where the customers

could see it.

Can I do anything, Will?

Yes. Will you call Dr. Clinton and have him get over to the house right away?

Certainly.

Flyers did bring his car around and gave me the necessary push.

Afterwards, he went back inside.

Naturally, I didn't return.

You've studied this case, Mr. Taylor. You know that that night my wife died.

And nobody locked the strongbox?

Nobody.

Not even Sam realized he'd left his key in it until he opened the bank in my

absence the following Monday.

Then he saw the box was empty.

Matthias was arrested.

He never admitted to taking the money.

But he was convicted, Mr. Taylor.

This may be a small community, but we don't observe the lynch law.

Arnold Mathias was defended by Ira Casey, one of the finest defense

the state.

And I hired him.

Mathias was convicted nonetheless.

The jury was only out 45 minutes.

Do you know what Mathias did while he was in prison?

He obtained a set of court records of his trial, and he went over every word

the testimony until he found what he was looking for.

He marked it off, and then he drew a map.

How do you know this?

A writer can't reveal his sources of information. They might dry up.

And why should I believe you?

Because I'm in possession of those records and the map.

I thought you might like to go over them with me, if you really are interested

in my book.

there's a market for such a book?

Yes, I do.

You see, there's one very interesting point about this case.

If Matthias did take the $200 ,000 from your vault, what did he do with it?

Not one dollar of it has ever been found.

Is something wrong with my letter of credit, Mr. Spengler?

Will you excuse me a moment, Mr. Taylor? I want to see if Mr. Kern's back.

General Mathias, 24, convicted of stealing $200 ,000 from the Kirkland

Mercantile Bank three years ago, was shot and killed this morning by a guard

while attempting to escape from state prison.

His cellmate, Thomas Henry, 40, made good his escape in a laundry truck.

Sailing man, Mr. Spengler?

Never been to sea, Mr. Taylor.

It's, uh, too bad Matthias tried to escape. He might have been paroled.

Well, parole boards are notoriously slow in this state, and Matthias had no

friends to work for him on the outside.

Now, that's not true.

I hired Ira Casey.

Who was a colleague's classmate of yours and a friend of almost 30 years.

What's wrong with that?

Nothing. I would have considered myself lucky to have such a friend if $200 ,000

had disappeared from my bank.

I hired Casey to defend Matthias.

And the Kirkland Mercantile Bank.

You know, that's a very beautiful model you have there, Mr. Spangler. I don't

suppose you bought it here in Kirkland.

I'm not chained to Kirkland.

I get out occasionally.

Out. You know, that's a very apt word, out.

That's what Matthias wanted.

Out and a chance to clear his name.

Or to recover the $200 ,000 from wherever he'd hidden it.

Yes, but where could he have hidden it?

Now, suppose Matthias did take the money from the vault, but wasn't convicted.

What could he do with it?

He couldn't spend it without creating suspicion because, after all, he's a

teller on a fixed income, just as you're Mr. Kern is a bank officer on a fixed

income. And just as I am a bank president on a fixed income.

That's my point.

Now, the man that took that money out of the vault would have had to do one of

three things.

First, he could leave Kirkland, which Matthias didn't.

It's here in the record.

Matthias made no attempt to leave Kirkland.

Instead, he went to a movie on Friday night, alone.

He caught cold. And according to his landlady's testimony, he stayed in his

all day Saturday and Sunday. I know what's in the record. I was at the

Here's one of the sections that Matthias bracketed.

The district attorney questioned your housekeeper, Mrs. Holmes, and she

explained exactly what she had done following your wife's attack.

She gave her the medicine prescribed by Dr. Clinton.

Question. Was Mrs. Spengler subject to such attacks?

Answer. Yes, sir.

We knew it was only a matter of time.

I gave her the medicine, got her to bed, then called Dr. Clinton.

He asked me to call Mr.

Spengler right away.

And that's what I did.

Yeah. And what are you trying to prove?

I'm not trying to prove anything.

I'm just trying to discover what Matthias had hoped to prove.

Now, here.

A few pages farther on, another bracketed section appears.

This time, it's Sam Kern's testimony, where he tells of your difficulty in

getting your car started.

This part is underlined.

Mr. Spengler came back into the bank.

He asked me to call Dr. Clinton.

I wonder why Matthias would underline that.

You said whoever took the money could have done one of three things with it.

What's the second one?

The second thing that could have been done with the money was, as you

to hide it.

But where could Matthias have hidden it?

His room was searched at the time of his arrest.

His car was completely torn apart.

Where did he hide it, Mr. Spangler?

Yes? Mr. Spangler, you said you wanted this report the minute it came in.

Oh.

Has Mr. Kern returned yet? Mr. Kern went to lunch.

At this hour?

It's after 11, Mr. Spangler. Mr. Kern always goes to lunch at this hour in

to be back for the noon rush.

I was just going myself if you don't need me.

No, no, no, that's quite all right. Go ahead.

it, Mr. Spankler.

Mr. Taylor, you've quoted Ira Casey's summation to the jury almost verbatim.

The only thing you've omitted was the sentimental reference to Matthias'

childhood.

Sentimental? Does that denote disapproval? I hired Casey.

Unfortunately for Matthias, Ira Casey was a friend with a friend's loyalty and

friend's blindness.

Didn't you know that Mrs. Holmes had called Dr. Clinton before she called

After all, your wife was his patient and had been for some time.

Yet, you asked Mr. Kern to go to the telephone at the opposite end of the

and make a call which had certainly been made already.

As a result, you were alone in the vault for several minutes.

What was your third possibility?

You told me a very interesting story a few minutes ago, Mr. Spangler, and an

accurate one except for some important details.

I'd like to point them out to you.

The diary deposit must have been a temptation to you from the beginning.

Your marriage had been an unhappy one, and your father -in -law was a

domineering tyrant.

And you had a ready -made suspect working right in the bank.

A record's a tough thing to live down, even a juvenile record.

The public is seldom forgiving when someone is made off with a bank deposit.

It strikes too close to the paycheck.

That's what you were really thinking that day when a half a million dollars

moved into the vault of the farmers and merchants of Kirkland?

And then, on the day of the theft, the day when Sam Kern was anxious to get

early and Matthias was working late, your wife suffered another heart attack.

which gave you the chance you'd been waiting for all these months.

You must have recognized it instantly.

All you needed to do was clear the vault area for a few minutes.

And then, when the job was done, be able to go home to your stricken wife while

Matthias was still at work in the last teller's cage.

And while the vault, with the unlocked strongbox inside, was still standing

open.

The first step was to get Matthias out of the bank.

That was a little tricky.

It's a small matter to flood an engine, and on a cold and miserable December

day, no one would be likely to question your story that the car just wouldn't

start.

You knew Matthias would be gone for several minutes.

His car was a good 200 yards away, according to the map in this case.

That left only Kern to get out of the way.

Leaving you alone, only a few steps away...

From $200 ,000.

And no one in all this time has thought to look for the dire funds in that third

and only possible place.

That $200 ,000 was never found, Spangler, because they never left this

It's here now, in the vault, in your own deposit box.

Is that what Matthias told you?

When you were cellmates, Mr. Henry? The name is Taylor. Henry Taylor.

You didn't think a small -town banker would be clever enough to check on that

letter of credit, did you? Well, I did.

When I went outside, I had Miss Foster call that bank in Chicago.

And that bank in Chicago has no record of a letter of credit having been issued

to any Henry Taylor.

Do you think you can come in here off the street and blackmail me with marked

records and a ridiculous map?

I don't care what a dead convict suspected.

We're not discussing what a dead convict suspected.

There's one thing you don't know about the convict who didn't die.

He wasn't serving time for anything as petty as grand theft.

Thomas Henry's the killer.

Thomas Henry is the convicted murderer with nothing to lose.

All I have to do is to dial that phone.

And Henry's rough.

He can make the sphinx talk, but leave him to $200 ,000?

Now go ahead and dial it.

The number for the police station is 116.

No. Now, now, now, don't be a fool.

Have you ever been worked over by a really desperate man, Spengler?

You be concerned with Matthias.

Everybody thinks he took the money.

Besides, he's dead.

But he didn't take it, did he?

It's in the vault, isn't it?

Yes.

Most of it.

Now, be reasonable.

We can make a deal.

Thank you, Mr. Spengler.

We already have.

You made a mistake in thinking I was that escaped convict.

I'm not Thomas Henry.

But I was certain that I could wring a confession out of you if I got here

before Henry.

Lucky for you, I did.

My name is Loudon.

It's Henry Taylor Loudon.

I was the guard at state prison that shot Matthias when he tried to escape.

I didn't know he was innocent.

That's why I'm here.

I shall never again accept a political nomination without knowing the identity

of the office involved.

I like being a collector, but I rather hoped it would be taxes, not rubbish.

Perhaps I can resign next time when we reassemble at this same hall.

Until then, good night.