Original subtitles

Hey. You're from Mississippi, right?

Yeah.

Rivermore? Yeah, that's my hometown.

I thought that's what you said.

Take a look at that.

Elsie.

Elsie Townsend.

You know her?

How well?

She was in my sister's class. They were good friends.

This is perfect.

You know this is going to be a big story, right?

Huge. Tolbert!

Get going, man.

Bet he wants you on it.

I already told him you were from Mississippi.

Well?

You're right. He wants me on it. There you go.

Tell him the matter. You're supposed to be excited.

I know. I know. I should be, but... Oh, damn it, Tolbert.

All you have to do is cover the trial. You put your name up there, and half a

million people will read it. It's not that simple.

What are you talking about? This is the chance of a lifetime.

He'll make you.

Look, Tolbert, we are talking about Eric Sanderson's wife here.

Look, I appreciate you trying to help me, all right? But Elsie and I, we're

close.

And here I am digging up God knows what.

So I'm sorry, but this is not something that I'm looking forward to.

You're welcome.

What I didn't tell Harry was that I was in love with her.

In a way, I still am.

Healthy is just not someone you forget.

I still think about her every day.

When I got to Mississippi, it was already late in the day.

The air was still hot.

Steamy. Hey, Ellen! Hey.

Good to see you, man.

Then coming into town, memories of that summer came back to me.

The incessant sound of cicadas filling the air all night.

How could Elsie be involved in a murder?

I was still in shock.

I had to find out, and the most logical place to start was Jerry's Cafe, where

Elsie worked.

Talk to Molly.

Not bad, huh?

Elvin. I owe nothing.

Elvin Talbert?

Look at you.

You. How you doing, Jerry?

What brings you back to Rivermore?

I know. You're going to testify, aren't you?

Actually, I'm covering the trial for a Phoenix paper.

That's right. Elsie married that real estate developer, didn't she?

Must be a big deal out there, huh? Yeah, the biggest.

It's a shame, though, the way they're dragging her through the mud.

Some coffee, Eldon? Sure.

Listen, is Molly around?

No.

I gave Molly some time off.

She's going to be our star witness.

Oh, yeah?

How's it going, Bubba?

I... We'll take a grab chair. All right? Then I'll talk to you later. Okay.

Thanks, Ben.

Charlotte.

What?

Those are the same people who used to frown on Elsie.

I remember.

Funny how things change when you marry money, huh?

Well, it's been a long time.

People forget.

True or not?

Nothing's changed.

Nope.

I wrote a poem.

Yeah, yeah, thought about it.

Not that I have a choice.

We are choosing.

Say, uh, Elsie?

New movie, Die Hard, playing in town. You heard about it?

Yeah.

You want to check it out? Like, Saturday, maybe?

No, but thanks anyway.

I'm telling you, this star was nothing on.

No way. My brother ain't the type to say something that ain't true.

There is supposed to be a place where we can look right into her bedroom.

It's a tree or something, and that's what we have got to find out.

Oh, yes.

Look, I told you I'd help set up and that's all.

You can't leave Molly like this.

She's alone.

You walk out of here. Come on, you can't make her.

Look, she didn't do it last year neither, remember?

She didn't?

You forgot.

What's wrong with that girl?

Jerry, there's something wrong with her.

Here, look at that.

You know, most of them kids be going off to other places. Oh?

So what I'm saying is Elsie could have gone off, too.

Two years back.

You know, if her daddy hadn't died so soon.

So put yourself in her shoes, Jerry.

Don't you like to see them dancing away when you could be in college yourself

right now, huh?

How was it? It was fine, Ma.

You have dinner, honey?

Yeah, I had something.

I made a chicken casserole tonight.

If you want, I can heat it up for you.

I'm taking a bath, Ma.

All right.

Mom, fun.

Just fun.

I'm going to run to the post office.

Oh, take care of him for me, will you?

He's a regular man.

Mary, Rick Chambers.

You know, he's married to the judge's daughter.

He comes in from California, right?

He's here just a few weeks, and he sweeps her off her feet.

It was a big scandal back then, boy.

But that was before your time.

I'll be right back, okay?

Oh, regular.

Thanks.

What's your name?

Elsie. Elsie.

I've seen you around here for a long time and never knew your name.

I've known Molly for ages.

But I never could get my nerve up to ask her what your name was.

What do you mean?

What do I mean?

Yeah.

Oh, okay, okay.

No, I'm sorry.

That didn't come out right, did it?

My wife says everything that comes out of my mouth comes out wrong.

You know?

You like musicals?

Musicals? Yeah.

I got these, uh... This year's for, uh... The Fantastics.

It's coming to town. You heard about that?

Here, I want to give you these.

My wife's too sick to go.

Why don't you ask Molly? I'm sure she'd love to go.

No, I already did.

She's got some sort of school thing. Take anyone you want.

It's a shame to waste two perfectly good tickets.

Thanks, but I don't have anyone to take me anyway.

Well, mind if I do?

Well, I guess I'll be all right.

Great.

We'll have a good time.

What's your step?

It's nice to be out again.

You make it sound like you haven't been out in ages.

That's because I haven't.

I thought men would be lined up for blocks to ask you out.

They are.

I just haven't found the locals all that interesting.

The young ones, anyway.

And the old ones like me, they're already married, right?

Mind if we go for a drink, you know, before we go home?

Good.

Wait, are you trying to make me believe that you don't have a boyfriend?

I used to have a boyfriend.

He was a graduate student at the university.

He took me places.

Concerts, old movies, you know, those foreign ones.

What happened to him?

He got a job in New York, Buffalo.

He wanted me to go with him, but... Well, why didn't you?

I had to take care of my mother. She was sick.

Jesus, you and me.

I've been taking care of my wife for a long time, you know?

Really? What's the matter?

Heart.

Yeah, it's been a long struggle.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Caring for somebody that's sick.

That ain't living, I can tell you that.

I love you.

Hey, um... Do you want to dance?

Sure.

That looks good.

Yeah.

Thank you. I had a lovely evening.

Good.

I want to see you. I've got to get back.

I want to see you again.

Call me.

Okay.

I will.

What?

Hey, what's up?

I've got a car.

I thought we might drive out to Twin Lakes.

Sounds good.

It's all right, Eldon.

Your mother told me.

Told you what?

That it happened to her when she was a girl.

The same thing.

We're going to be friends, okay?

Look, I'm sorry.

I just didn't know what to do.

Please, you have to understand.

No one fainted on me before.

I thought... You thought what?

There was something wrong with me.

Few? It has nothing to do with you, okay? I drank too much, that's all.

So, we're still on, right?

You're not going to faint?

Sally.

You are lying.

No, I'm not.

Well, then...

Who? Huh?

Well, Dewey, I know you're just trying to provoke me into giving you all the

nasty details, but I ain't falling into that trap.

All right?

That's because you can't tell me nothing. The truth is, you haven't had

That's why.

When you grow up... God, the more you talk about it, the more obvious it is

you ain't never had sex. Oh, that ain't so, because I told you, I've had a lot.

I just haven't had it recently.

That's all.

I ain't like that guy over here.

Yo, Jake!

Get him!

Get him, Alvin! Get him!

Elsie? Oh, hi.

Oh, hey, Mr. Chambers. Hey.

What are you doing here, Alvin?

Oh, just walking.

What are you doing here?

Oh, I was thinking of buying a car for Mr.

Chambers.

Oh, yeah?

Listen, maybe you'd like to buy her car. Bet she'd let you have it very cheap.

Oh, I'd like to, but this is my last summer here, so... Oh, yeah?

Where are you going?

University of Arizona.

Hey, that's great.

Yeah, great.

Huh?

I'd love to be going to some far -off place.

Listen, best of luck to you.

Yeah, thanks.

I'll see you, Elsie.

Okay, Allison.

Good luck with the car.

Jerry's?

Yeah. Hold on.

Healthy? For you.

Hello.

Wasn't that Rick?

Yeah. And what did he want?

I don't know. He said he wanted to take me out or something.

What?

But he's married. I know.

He's kind of persuasive.

He said he has tickets to his show. His wife's sick. She doesn't want to go.

But you're not going to go out with him, are you? I haven't made up my mind yet.

Okay, listen, honey.

Better watch out for the guy you hear.

Married men are all alike.

Okay, they all take advantage of you.

Believe you me.

Because I'm talking from my own experience, hon.

You just don't get stuck in a place like this.

Look, there's so much going for you, hon. Look at you.

You're so beautiful.

You know, you're lucky you're so nice.

Rick, you don't want to scare me to death. What are you doing here?

I got you a little CD player.

The whole setup.

Here, take this.

Got you the speakers and everything.

They say these are really good speakers.

You didn't have to do this.

Hey, you're a music lover.

You need a good sister.

I know.

But... Well, are you going to ask me in?

I mean, I'm the only one who knows how to put all that together.

Oh, really?

Yeah. Well, my ma is awake in the living room, so I don't know if that's a good

idea.

You'll have to be very quiet.

What are you... Shh!

It wasn't me, man.

I swear to you, Sally's doing it. No, she isn't.

I'm telling you, it's Sally.

Well, then I'm going to go ask Sally then myself. I'm going to ask her right

now. I'll ask her if she's doing it directly.

Well, I'm just saying, it ain't me who's spreading it around.

Now, how the hell do you go?

You all right?

Yeah. I'm sorry.

Okay.

Can you please stop to talk about you and Rick?

It's a small town, honey. You gotta be real careful.

Come on, everyone knows the guy's married and all.

And she thinks it could get downright ugly.

Real bad.

Besides, I don't know what you're doing playing around with a guy like Rick

Chambers. He ain't your type, hon.

He...

Hey,

Elsie. Oh, hi, Elton.

What do you do?

Oh, I just came down to get some typing paper.

Hey, let me take those.

Thanks.

So, when you leaving?

31st.

31st?

Yeah, my parents are going too.

Fem's real serious about moving out there then, huh?

Yeah.

What are you staring at, huh? You think we're some kind of freak show?

Elton, don't be rude.

She's the one that was being rude. She was staring at us. Don't mind them.

They're not staring at you. They're staring at me.

It's about you and Mr. Chambers, isn't it? He took me some places, and now

everybody's talking.

I hate it. I hate this place. I just want to get as far away as possible.

So, what was the practice about the other day?

You and Dewey?

Uh, no.

Oh, come on, Eldon. I told my trouble.

All right, but you have to promise not to tell anybody.

I promise.

And promise not to laugh. I swear.

Well, Sally Jenkins and I have been going, you know, steady.

And, um, nothing serious. Just kissing and stuff.

But, um, the other day there was a party at this girl Minnie's house. It was a

going -away party. You know, about two dozen or so of us were there.

We were all drinking beer and stuff.

And Sally took me up to Minnie's room.

She said Minnie knew about it, you know?

Yeah.

Well, we blacked out.

I knew it. I knew it. I knew you were going to laugh. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, really.

Look, I had a lot of embarrassing moments like that when I was growing up.

Really? Yeah, girls do.

I mean, maybe nothing as dramatic as yours, but magnified in their heads.

Anyway, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

It's some kind of hereditary thing.

I mean, it happened to my mom when she was younger, too.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

But, I mean, it only happens when I drink too much, so it'll be all right if

careful, you know?

Hey, my sister used to have the same poster.

Yeah, we bought it at the same place.

Yeah, it's about two guys, and the poor one kills the rich one and steals the

rich one's girlfriend.

Yeah, a real shocker.

Oh, hi, Mrs. Townsend.

Hi. Ma, you remember Eldon, Dorothy's brother?

Oh, yeah, Dorothy.

How is she? She's good. She's real good.

Oh.

Well, would you like something to drink on it?

No, no, no, thanks, but I gotta get going anyway.

Oh.

Thanks for helping out.

Oh, bye.

Make sure and say goodbye before you leave, okay?

I will.

Maybe we could have dinner or something.

Yeah, that'd be great.

I wish I had a lot of money.

Why all of a sudden?

So I could give you some.

Then you could go away.

Eldon, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.

Jerry.

Yeah, hold on.

Elsie, for you.

Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah.

Sure.

So, yeah, I know the place.

Please sit down.

Thank you for coming.

And what can I get you?

Gin and tonic.

Cute outfit.

Obnoxious, isn't he?

You've been seeing my... You've been seeing Rick.

I can see why he's been acting the way he has.

You're so young.

Lovely.

He married me for money.

I shouldn't have said that. It's not kind, but... You know, sometimes people

think they don't always wind up as originally intended.

I know what you mean.

Here you go.

And anything for you, ma 'am.

Thank you.

Well,

he finally wound up managing, but my father left me, which isn't much.

I have a heart problem, and my father wanted to make sure we'd be... Well,

I would be well taken care of, so he put the property in a trust.

Look, what are you trying to say?

You don't need to beat around the bush.

Martha, Kate told me that if I don't give him a great deal of money, he's

to lose you. I don't have a great deal of money to give him. Let's get one

clear.

I didn't get involved with him for the money or anything like that. Oh, I

mean to imply. And I didn't ask him to come up with any money either.

It's all in his head.

Now, excuse me.

Please. We can talk in my car.

He's been acting real crazy lately.

Coming home drunk. All aggressive.

So full of rage towards me.

He's been dropping little hints. A hint there.

But I've been reading between the lines.

He wants me dead.

That way he can legally dispose of the properties that would be with you.

Oh, no.

Oh, God.

Oh, the terror of my life.

You know what to vote for? No.

He wants all the money.

That way he'll have you.

Or else he'll kill me.

What do you want me to do, Martha?

I told him I could give him $100 ,000. But he said no.

Can't you talk to him? He'll listen to you.

But I don't want him either.

What?

What are you saying?

Look, he got me when I was lonely.

That's all.

I thought you loved him. That's what he thinks. I know that's what he thinks.

Sure, he got under my... Again, I'm not denying that.

But now I want to breathe.

Do you hear me? I want to breathe.

No.

My God.

If you leave him, he'll blame me.

I know he will. Look, I'm just as scared as you are.

It's his eyes.

They just don't let you go.

So beautiful.

He's never going to let you go.

He'll track you down.

He'll track you down. You're never going to leave him.

Here I was hoping you'd help me get him out of my life.

We can

still do that.

We can still get him out of the way.

I just have to think.

We gotta get rid of her.

Who?

My wife.

About your wife.

I know what you're thinking.

I wasn't thinking about your wife.

No.

But you were thinking about faraway places.

People are already talking about us. I know that.

You hate that.

You just want to get away from it all.

Just a minute ago, I know what you were going to say.

You were about to say that's not going to work out with you and me, weren't

And I'm going to have to come up with some money real fast, don't I?

You need a safe place to put your mother, a place where you don't have to

And if I don't come up with money fast, I'm going to lose you, aren't I?

But...

If she dies, yeah, everything will work out and

she'll leave me all that money, right?

Yeah, I know I'm right.

Rick, is that you?

There you are.

You naughty boy.

You naughty boy.

To remind you that if you're thinking about cutting me out, you're fucking

wrong, and I'll kill you.

You know that?

Yeah, I know that. That's why I went to see Lerner, to see how much I can give

you.

And?

$100 ,000 in cash.

And what do you think you can do with $100 ,000, huh?

Nothing!

Well, he's going to have to do better. Do you hear me?

I've spent my entire fucking life taking care of you.

I deserve better.

I want to be free.

I know.

You told me.

I know. You and I are no longer good for each other. I can't lose her, Martha.

I can't lose Elsie.

What do you want me to do about it?

They said he saw you and Rick again last night.

They say he was drunk.

They say he made a mess of the place.

What's going on, Elsie?

Come on, this is the third time I heard something like that.

I don't know, Molly.

I really don't know what's going on.

This whole thing's just getting way out of hand.

I don't know what to do.

I'll tell you what to do. You gotta be strong, honey.

You gotta be able to say no.

You hear me, hon?

Come on, enough is enough, you know?

Did you get the insurance straightened out?

That's very clever.

Yeah.

I asked for an increase on mine first.

The insurance man brought it up on his own. He said, perhaps your husband

have an increase on his too.

Smart, that's real smart.

Yeah, it worked out real fine.

I'm proud of you.

Okay.

We're set.

We'll do it tomorrow night then.

Tomorrow night?

Tomorrow I have an appointment at the hospital at Dalton.

It's a long way off. Rick's got to take me there.

No, it doesn't matter.

Have dinner with him on the way home.

The main thing is, have as many people as possible see him drunk.

That's all.

He'll be showing me back by 12 .30.

Martha, you're going to be there.

Don't worry.

Just do what we have planned.

Martha, we agree.

I'm doing the dirty work, right?

So don't worry.

I'm gonna back out on them.

No.

Are you okay?

I'll be right there.

You mentioned about dinner.

You would?

Great.

Yeah, yeah, Dingham's fine.

Okay.

I'll be there.

Where is he?

On the top?

Get the devil with you before he wakes up.

Look, you better take his clothes off before his body gets stiff.

Look, I did my part, all right?

Said I would, and I did.

I did the hard part.

Now it's your turn, Martha.

We agree.

It's not gonna bite you.

Not anymore.

Dead men can't hurt you, honey.

Not anymore.

Or do you want me to leave?

I want...

Take your wet clothes off in the tub.

What's going on? I don't want to get water on the floor. We have all the time

the world now.

Now you've got to call emergency.

Not yet, baby, not yet. Baby, I am so bored. Come on, go. Come on, man. Stop

now. We don't have time.

Come on.

No, no, no.

Sit down.

Sit down.

No, listen to me.

And remember, your wife just had a heart attack, okay?

Call her.

But...

Almost all of the properties.

Martha was right. I didn't get much. But you got the insurance money, right?

Yeah. It took longer than we hoped.

But I got it all right.

What'd you do with the money? We had to find a place for Elsie's mother.

Found a good place down in San Antonio, Texas. And we moved her out there.

And then we went off to Europe.

Europe? Oh, yeah. I had a great time in Paris.

I mean, what a place that was.

Yeah.

Then we went off again to Mexico.

And that's where she met this asshole from Arizona.

Shit. Do you know the reason that she went off with that guy?

Why? Because he said he would marry her.

Heck, if that's what she wanted.

I would have married her.

But I guess, you know, she just couldn't look at the truth.

I mean, staring at me day in and day out, knowing that I knew that the

whole thing was her own idea.

She came up with it? Well, actually, she said that she got it from a movie, a

famous French one called Diabolic.

Diabolic. Yeah, I think so, yeah.

Hey, anyway, it worked, right?

It worked.

And the latest information is that you will be taking a stand this afternoon on

no word exactly who gave you an update. Do stay tuned for this.

Much has been made since the filing of the... Mr. Tallman?

I'm Bill Beckman.

I work for Mr. Shelby, legal counsel for Mrs. Sanderson.

Yeah, right.

I'm sorry we haven't been able to get in touch with you earlier, but there's

been a mix of them, so let's try to track you down.

Well, I've been here all along.

Well, anyway, we need you to testify for us.

Testify? Well, yes, for the defense.

What?

What do you mean?

I get the point. That makes her kind of useless to me.

I know you didn't ask for it.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sure. Okay.

Yeah.

Gary!

Have you seen her?

Yeah. What'd she say?

I haven't got a chance to interview her yet.

Anyway, Sanderson and Elsie settled in Scottsdale.

And Rick followed her there.

He was obsessive. I mean, you know the kind.

So Sanderson retaliated with a restraining order.

And that's when the accident happened.

What accident?

The car accident.

Vehicular manslaughter with a blood alcohol level that would have made the

Jones happy.

So Sanderson made sure he'd get a long -term conviction.

And I guess that's when Rick decided to spill his guts and take her down with

him. If I can't have her, you can't have her, huh?

Yeah, something like that.

The guy sounds like a real wacko.

Yeah, well, wait till you see Elsie.

A lot of guys would go wacko with her.

The thing is, the prosecution never would have brought it up for trial in

first place if all they have is Rick.

But when Martha's brother dug up these people and started matching them with

story, they realized maybe they had a case.

Okay.

Okay, I got the picture, but how do you fit in?

I was with her that night.

What?

Yeah, you heard right.

Jesus.

No.

I don't get this.

I mean, you covered the trial from day one. The date never come up? It did.

It was mentioned like three times in the transcripts, but somehow I assumed...

Look, I don't know why I didn't make the connection.

I mean, maybe I assumed it was after I left town.

It was a long time ago, you know?

All I could remember was that I left right before the start of a long Labor

weekend. But if you were with her, she's innocent, then.

Yeah.

Yeah what?

Come on. What the fuck really happened that night?

I called her that day.

At the coffee shop.

So what time are you leaving tomorrow?

Early in the morning. We rented a van and a truck.

You driving all the way?

Yeah, we're moving all our stuff. We're going to store it at my sister's place.

I see.

I envy you.

You could always come and see us. I mean, Dorothy would love to see you.

Yeah, I'd love to see her.

Thanks for dinner.

Oh, you're welcome.

Yes, it was nice, wasn't it?

Yeah.

I'll always remember this.

Yeah, I'll remember it too.

Come on, Elton.

Listen.

Tomorrow you're leaving, right?

So you can tell me anything you want.

You never have to see me again.

Yeah.

Well... I guess I wanted to say...

Yeah?

Yeah.

Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Now that you've got that off your chest?

Guess not.

Well, did you tell Dewey, Andy?

No, nobody.

Oh, so it was a big secret then.

Yeah.

How do... do you

do?

Here, you drive.

Flight over.

Wherever you want to go.

Put your arm around me.

There. That's better.

Thursday, what about you?

Yeah.

What?

What's that?

Vodka.

You were thirsty, weren't you?

Take your clothes off and get under the covers.

I set the alarm in case we fall asleep.

I can't doubt, didn't I?

What do you mean?

I passed out, didn't I?

I thought you were sleeping.

You came inside of me.

I'll drop you off here and nobody will know.

Wow. I only wish my first play was that great.

Hey, that confirms it.

I mean, she's innocent.

That's what you want, right? I mean, she could have done that in half an hour.

Could she?

Could she have done all that?

No.

No way. Driving back and forth alone would have taken her that long.

Then what's bothering you?

I've always had in the back of my mind.

What?

Before I came to, I felt like maybe somebody came in the room, slept in bed

to me. Jesus, Tolbert, which is it?

Did it happen or not?

That's the thing.

I really don't know.

Jesus, gorgeous.

I told you.

Hey.

Hey. Where are you going?

To see Rick Chambers.

When are they calling you?

This afternoon.

I'd like to see that guy myself.

I know, but stay with it.

You're the reporter now.

What's happened?

I've been called to testify.

You?

Yeah.

About what?

About that night.

But you didn't have nothing to do with her that night, did you?

I was with her that night.

I was with her from 8 in the evening to 6 in the morning.

I know that's hard for you to believe, but I'm telling you the truth.

I was with her all that time, except for maybe between 2 .30 and 3.

What happened between... 2 .30 and 3. I... I blacked out.

I don't... You... No, no, hey, hey, don't get mad. I didn't mean to laugh at

you, kid. I... I'm laughing at myself.

I mean, God.

Well, I'm done in. I mean, that's it.

She won.

She had a perfect out in you. Look, I'm just telling you the truth, and I'll do

the same thing on the witness stand. Hey, hey, hey, I believe you. I believe

you.

Oh, I'm sure that's what happened.

Oh, Jesus, I can see it now.

That little brain of hers thinking, spinning on those hot, sweaty,

stifling summer nights.

Oh, man.

Oh, she's just waiting and waiting in that fucking unbearable place.

And then, hey, here we come, you and me, right? And she's gonna be free.

That's it.

That's what she wanted.

To be free.

Yeah.

So did you fuck her?

Huh? You know, I mean, come on, did you make love?

Good. Now you know, huh? Yeah.

You know why I did what I did.

It gets lonely sometimes when nobody understands what you went through. I

sometimes, huh?

She doesn't even move.

She just lays there.

And I can see her face slowly turning pink.

And her earlobes are blushing.

And I can see in her face that she's feeling my brick inside her.

Bloating.

Oh, man.

Oh, fuck God.

You know what I mean? Fuck a man.

God's nothing but a prickless shit.

You know why I came here?

You want to know if the thing really happened?

Yeah. It happened just the way I said it happened.

I mean, I can't tell you exactly what time to what time, but...

I can tell you, it was three in the morning when the ambulance finally came.

Hey, kid, don't make such a long face. You call them as you see them, right?

That's the system, the American way.

Yeah. And if she gets away with it, heck, the more power to her,

because she deserves it.

You know what I mean?

She's so wonderful.

And she deserves it.

So that's it.

And the best of luck to you.

Hey, kid.

Come back and see me sometime, will you?

We can compare notes in all the nooks and crannies.

Jesus.

This guy, Chuck Mulligan?

Right, Martha's brother.

Yeah, one scary bastard.

What'd he do?

The guy actually dug up her old car.

And he found a ski mask.

What ski mask?

The one that's supposedly scared to live in shit at a chamber's wife.

The courtroom was bug -eyed when that thing was introduced.

The thing is, they put your Elsie on the stand, and they did not make her look

good at all. This guy, Maxwell Strong, the lead prosecutor, he's one ambitious

son of a bitch.

I mean, her lawyer keeps putting up objections, but it's after the fact.

I think he's counting on you.

So what do you think happened?

I mean, do you think she's guilty or not?

You ought to know by now.

I don't.

It's going to be up to the jurors what they think.

I feel sick, Harry.

What do you think happened in those 30 minutes?

Was it 30 minutes?

I have to say what I know and I have to say what I don't know.

Jesus, Harry, I really feel sick.

Now then, what happened next?

We talked in the car.

Just talked?

We kissed.

Then what happened?

We, um, we took a drive. We pulled off at a roadside just outside of town.

And you talked there as well?

Yes.

And then? And then I went back to her house. To her bedroom, I believe.

Yes.

And did you make love to her?

Yes.

At what time did you leave Mrs. Sanderson's house?

It was 5 .30 the next morning. She drove me back.

So, in summing up the events of August 30th, 1989...

You spent the entire night with Elsie Sanderson from 8 in the evening until 5

.30 the next morning?

Essentially, yes.

What do you mean by essentially?

I blacked out.

You mean you fainted?

Yes.

What were you doing when this occurred?

We were in bed.

And how long did this blackout last?

Half an hour. Why are you so sure that it was only half an hour?

Because when we got there, she set the alarm clock. I had to leave early in the

morning, and she was afraid we might oversleep.

I see.

What time was it when she set the clock? Did you see the time? Yes, sir, 2 .30

in the morning. And when you came out of your blackout, did you see the time?

Yes, sir, 3 a .m. So, to recap...

You can account for Elsie Sanderson's whereabouts from 8 in the evening until

.30 the following morning, with the possible exception of between 2 .30 and

'clock a .m.

Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

That's correct.

She finished the clock!

I have no further questions at this time, your honor.

Defense reserves the right to recall.

Thank you, Mr. Tolbert.

Well, you have just exonerated your friend, Mrs. Sanderson, you know that?

If you say so.

Why, if I say so. Well, I thought the jury were the ones who decided that.

enough.

But you still haven't answered my question because you weren't sure

about that half an hour now, were you? Matter of fact, you're not sure that 2

.30 was the right time. I'm very sure of what I saw.

Set the alarm in front of you, did you?

No. No?

Where was the clock?

She brought it in from the bathroom. So she could have set the time in the

bathroom. Real time could have been 1 o 'clock or even 12 .30. You simply don't

know.

Now about this faintness, Bill.

Had anything of this sort ever happened to you prior to your affair with Mrs.

Sanderson? Yes, it had, and it wasn't an affair.

Just answer the questions, please.

When did it happen? A couple of weeks before with my girlfriend. I had too

to drink. So it's related to sexual activity and alcohol?

Yes. My sympathies.

Now did Mrs. Sanderson know about your problem? Yes, we discussed it. So she

knew in detail?

That it was alcohol -induced.

Objection. There is no medical evidence that it was alcohol -induced.

Repraise, Counselor.

Alcohol -related.

Yes.

Did you have any alcohol that night? During dinner, perhaps?

Yes.

How much?

Two bottles of wine. Two?

Two bottles of wine, you say? Yeah, well, we were there a long time.

How about in the car?

No.

In the bedroom?

Yes.

How much?

Two glasses of vodka and orange juice and... And?

And a swig of vodka, I guess. But if you knew you had this problem, why did you

have so much to drink?

Because I had quite a lot at the restaurant and nothing happened when we

the car, so I figured I'd overcome the thing somehow.

Besides, I was...

I was very thirsty.

Thirsty for orange juice, maybe a swig of vodka. Come on.

Would she dare you?

Shove a bottle in your face and dare you to be a man? No, it wasn't like that at

all. You tell me how it was, precisely.

She passed it to me from her mouth.

I mean, she didn't even have to challenge you. She just shoved it down

mouth because she knew you would have a fainting spell.

Objection. This is totally speculative. You're making this sound... You have no

further questions, Mr. Strong. We'll take a recess here.

If I may, Your Honor, I do have one more question, then I'm finished.

Proceed, then.

You're a journalist, aren't you?

Yes.

And you covered this trial from its beginning.

Until today?

Yes.

You already testified that you remember the date, August 30th, because you were

leaving to go to your college the next day.

Yes. But the date of this alleged incident has been mentioned several

throughout the course of this trial, was it not?

Yes. And why?

Why didn't you come forward until today to say that I was with this woman and

that she's innocent because I was with her that night?

I don't know. Could have saved us.

A whole lot of grief. You could have saved us a whole lot of money. Why?

Why did you come forward earlier? I don't know. Was it because you wanted to

keep your memories of Mr. Sanderson the way you wanted them? Or was it because

you couldn't stand to believe that your memories were in fact the cover -up of

this horrible crime? I don't know. You don't know.

You don't know.

You can't think of anything else. What else are you doing to protect this

How many lies will you tell to protect her? Damn it!

I've been trying to tell the truth. The truth.

You pull a stunt like that again in this courtroom, I'll kick you out of here.

Hear me?

Apologize, your honor. This court is recessed till tomorrow, 9 a .m.

But in light of today's proceedings, how can you be so confident?

I'm confident because she's innocent. Such vile and insidious intent.

That's all I have to say. Thank you.

No more questions.

I made a method today, didn't I?

Oh, hey, man.

You were just being honest.

Objective.

What do you think the verdict's going to be?

Well, I know one thing.

When you said you put the vodka right in your mouth, that had a big impact on

the jurors.

I was watching their faces, and they did not like that a bit.

Did Elsie Sanderson call you to have dinner?

No, I did. I called her to say goodbye.

I see.

And...

She suggested that you two go out for dinner.

No, I... I reminded her that we had talked about it a while back.

A while back?

I see.

And you say you reminded her.

And she agreed to go out to dinner with you that evening.

Yeah.

I see.

I have no further questions, Your Honor.

Thank you, Mr. Tolbert. You may step down.

Now, Mr. Tolbert's testimony was forthcoming, and he is to be commended

effort to be truthful, though describing some of those events must have been

painful reminders of his youth.

Yet the prosecution has twisted this young man's honesty.

They contend that his testimony is nothing more than a diabolical plot

to establish an alibi for Mrs. Sanderson.

The prosecution has speculated that Mrs. Sanderson had set the young Tolbert up,

fed him vodka to induce his blackout, and manipulated time.

But you've also heard from Mr. Tolbert that any of these speculations would

never have taken place if he himself had not called Mrs. Sanderson that

afternoon.

No dinner, no embrace, no drinks,

and therefore no blackout.

The unimpeachable proof of her innocence lies in these very facts.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, the prosecution may speculate until hell

over, but right now, in this courtroom, the facts remain.

That on August 30th of 1989, Elsie Sanderson was with young

Eldon Tolbert from 8 in the evening until 5 .30 the following morning. And

he, Mr. Tolbert, had not telephoned Mrs. Sanderson beforehand, these events

would never have taken place.

I leave these facts.

Ladies and gentlemen, to your good common sense.

Thank you.

Not guilty.

Guess that guy wasn't so bad after all.

Guess not.

Where are you going from here?

To see my cousin, I guess.

Drop me off at the airport on the way?

I'm glad about it. Yes, of course.

What are your plans now, Mr. Sanderson?

We're planning to go down to Argentina, maybe buy some horses down there.

We have a little spread in Arizona. We're really looking forward to setting

nice farm, maybe a family.

I'm sorry you had to go through all that.

I'm glad everything turned out okay.

I'll always remember you, Elton.

If I hadn't called her that afternoon...

Well, that's what the defense says.

The lawyer rested his whole case on it.

But she could have always counted on me to call her that day.

She knew I would never have gone off without saying goodbye.

But like Rick says, if she gets away with it, more power to her.

She's so wonderful.

Whoever's telling the truth, the fact is, we both spent the night with the

woman and came away with different recollections.

One thing's for sure.

When it comes to love, no two memories are the same.