Original subtitles

What about tonight?

Can I see you?

Please, Neil, don't start that again.

I told you on the way up,

it's finished between us.

Because you don't still care for me?

Or because you're afraid to stand up to your mother?

Everything all right, Judy?

Oh.

Fine, Uncle Matt.

Neil, drive us to the river.

Yes, Mr. Lambert.

Are you Mr. Farrell?

Yes, Harvey Farrell.

This is my attorney, Ralph Ordway.

I know Mr. Lambert, of course, but I don't think

I've met you, Miss, uh...

Judy Bryant.

Bryant. Bryant!

Oh, yes, you own land around here somewhere.

I happen to own the land we're standing on,

the land you seem ready to build on.

Ralph?

Miss Bryant is your neighbor.

Those stakes and the connecting line

represent the boundary line

between your property and hers, Mr. Farrell.

The boundary of my property happens to be

the Rodero River there, not those stakes there!

I want you get your men, your equipment

and yourselves off my property.

I have Mr. Farrell's deed of conveyance to this property,

from the boundary line to the river.

I'm also familiar with the trust fund that holds your deed.

Your property goes to that line,

and not to the river.

If anybody's trespassing,

Miss Bryant, why, I suggest it's you.

Uncle Matt? I tried to tell you on the telephone,

but you wouldn't listen.

I checked it out at the courthouse myself.

These men are telling the truth, I'm afraid.

We could accommodate any misunderstanding, if you'll just...

It isn't a case of misunderstanding, it's a case of theft...

You're trying to steal my property, and I won't let you.

Do you understand?

I won't let you get away with it.

Unfortunately, your deed is ambiguous on the key issue.

It doesn't say whether we're dealing

with a meander line or a boundary line.

Meander line?

When you survey public land bordering on a river,

instead of defining each twist and turn of the river,

the surveyor picks two prominent points,

or monuments, as they call them,

and marks the course of the river between those two points

as a straight line, or a meander line.

David, you've looked over the documents.

What's the disparity between the river and the survey line?

Uh, the river is more than 300 feet from the survey line.

Well, there's no secret about that, Perry.

That 300 feet was mainly marshland when the river was surveyed.

Well, since that time, the Rodero River

has dried up a bit and moved a little, that's all.

The river was my boundary.

Since it's dried up and moved away,

does that mean that the new dryland

can be sold, it doesn't belong to me?

Oh, no, no. You see,

the California Civil Code provides

that when there is accretion...

The forming of new land by natural causes...

The new land still belongs to the original owner of the riverbank.

That's very legal and complicated.

What do we do?

Della,

prepare the papers for two suits...

A temporary injunction to stop construction,

and an action in ejectment to, uh, recover possession.

Right away, Perry.

David, perhaps you'd like to hop up to Manzana Valley

and get these suits filed,

then locate Frank Deane.

He's the district forest ranger

and an expert on repairing accretion.

You can fly back with us today

if, uh, the papers'll be ready in time.

Mr. Mason, this meander or express boundary line,

how do you prove which it was?

Well, it's a question of intent.

The success or failure of your lawsuit

will depend upon the testimony of the surveyor.

That's why

I asked Mr. Drake to come by.

Miss Bryant,

do you know the name of the man who made the original survey?

Yes. Amos Bryant.

Amos Bryant?

My stepfather.

Actually, my real name is Judith Starkey.

Where is your stepfather now?

I don't know.

He deserted us 15 years ago.

I haven't seen or heard from him since.

Perhaps your mother would know where to locate him.

You'll have to ask her.

I'll get right on it.

We could make a settlement and avoid litigation.

Since Farrell bought from the state certain land...

Land he now believes to be his own...

And is prepared to spend considerable money

to develop that property as a resort area,

he might wish to avoid any cloud on the title of that land.

No settlement, Mr. Mason.

You see, even before I found out about Farrell,

I was contacted about my land.

An offer to buy?

Yes.

If I can show clear title up to the river,

I can sell my land for a quarter of a million dollars.

♪ ♪

Oh, David, this is Judy's mother, Chloris Bryant.

David Gideon.

How do you do, Mrs. Bryant? How do you do?

I'm sure you're angry with me at the moment, Judy.

I am sorry. I...

I'm afraid I had to be here.

Despite our slight disagreement,

I am the sole executor for the trust fund

that controls your properties.

You made that quite clear

when you ordered me to stop seeing Neil Gilbert.

Judy, I did what I thought was best,

even though you don't feel that way.

Darling, Neil is a nothing.

I don't like him; I-I don't trust him.

Didn't you like Amos Bryant 15 years ago, either,

even though he was the only father I ever knew?

Judy, please,

get the chip off your shoulder.

After 15 years, you ought to be willing to admit

that Amos Bryant was no good, either.

Judy, please, let's not go on like this.

Mother...

Will you excuse us, please?

David and I have to see the forest ranger.

Uh, Mr. Deane.

Hey, Seth!

Seth Tyson, come on ashore!

Yeah!

What? I want you to meet some folks up here.

Miss Bryant, David, I'd like you to meet

Manzana Valley's one and only true celebrity,

a real desert rat, Seth Tyson.

Hello. Hello. Howdy.

Seth, uh, there seems to be some question

about this property here.

I've, uh, been going over it with Miss Bryant.

Property?

Now, lookee here, young fella,

you done woke me up with some tomfool nonsense

about worthless real estate?

No, no, no, nothing like that, Seth.

How long you been in these parts, Seth?

Oh, 40, 50 years, seems like.

Seth, has...

this Rodero River always been the same here?

I mean, always in the same riverbed?

I should say not.

Why...

weren't further than 15, 20 years back,

this here river was twice as wide.

Clear back as far as them there stakes back there.

What do we do now, David?

Well, that's up to Paul Drake.

The suits are filed; I think Mr. Mason can prove accretion.

Now he has to prove intent.

Which means that Paul has to come up

with the original surveyor... your stepfather.

Your mother didn't keep tabs on him,

but she had a pretty good idea

where the detective might find him.

Yeah, there he is... Amos Bryant.

Over there at the table with Paul Drake.

Daddy.

Now, wait a minute, let me remember.

Susie.

Sure, that's it. Susie.

How are you, baby?

No.

I'll see about rooms for you and Mr. Bryant.

Oh, Mr. Drake, I...

Eh, don't worry.

I'll leave orders to have it filled.

And next time you see your stepdaughter,

her name's Judy, not Susie.

Mr. Bryant, my name's Ordway, Ralph Ordway.

How are you? Mind if I buy you a drink?

I'd like to talk to you for a minute.

Well, sure, sit right down, sit down.

Waiter?

You called and asked me to come here alone. Why?

How long have you been standing there?

A moment or so.

Might've been 15 years.

You're not exactly the stuff

that little girls' dreams are made of, are you?

These things happen, Judy, you know that.

I'm just sorry things turned out the way they did.

Uh, I wanted to talk to you about your lawsuit

and my testimony.

What about it?

Well, now, don't get excited, Judy.

That was a meander line I surveyed, not a boundary.

That land belongs to you, right up to the river.

It's true, and I can prove it,

even though the field records were destroyed a year ago.

Well...

it's just that I...

can't go into court and say so.

Why not, if it's the truth?

Well, things have been pretty rough for me

the past few years.

I'm pretty deeply in debt to some people

who can make a lot of trouble for me.

These trials take a lot of time,

and they're written up in the papers.

They... the people I owe the money to...

well, they might be able to find me.

You wouldn't want me to get in that kind of trouble,

would you?

But I suppose if your debts were paid,

you'd be able to testify.

Even the truth has a price, hasn't it?

Well, winning that case

could mean a lot of money to you, couldn't it?

What are you trying to tell me?

8:00, tomorrow night.

Now, put the money in a box and wrap it,

so nobody'll know what it is.

Nobody?

Well, there's some people

I wouldn't want to know about the money...

and you wouldn't want people to think

that you were paying me to testify, would you?

You know where that big rock is

down by the bend in the river?

Leave the package there, and I'll pick it up.

8:00, by the rock

at the bend in the river.

How much must I pay to liquidate your debts?

Oh, about... $10,000.

Ah, now, don't get upset.

Th-This'll be enough to straighten me out,

at least for a while.

Oh, yeah.

Whew!

Morning, Miss Bryant.

Mr. Drake. Uncle Matt,

could I see you alone for a moment?

It's important, please.

All right. Go on up to the office.

Excuse us, please.

Sure.

Matt...

I need $10,000 in cash,

and I need it right away.

$10,000? But...

Please, Matt, no questions.

Oh, Matt, please?

Judy, you know what you mean to me.

No, please, I...

I'm not trying to pry.

It's just that I would like to know if there's anything

I can do to help you.

No, Matt, nobody can help me.

What I'm going to do...

I have to do alone.

Oh, Matt, what is it?

It's your mother's birthday today.

I'm having a little surprise party for her down at the inn.

I'd like to have you come.

I'm sorry. I have a date.

All right.

Matt...

I really do have

to be somewhere else tonight, honestly.

I'll try to join the party later.

Fine.

Can I borrow a car about 8:00?

I'll have Neil bring one up to you.

If you want to play golf, you'd better hurry up.

Coming!

I borrowed some clubs for us.

Well, hi. Hi.

Oh, just a sec.

Okay.

♪ ♪

Isn't Judy having dinner with us?

She, uh, she may join us later.

Matt, is there something wrong,

something you're not telling me?

No, no, of course not.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

No question about it, Mr. Mason.

It was a homemade bomb in this box

that killed Amos Bryant.

No accident, that's for sure,

and not much likelihood a suicide.

Then you're left with murder, Sheriff Vincent.

Yeah, that's, uh, that's kind of a specialty of yours

down in Los Angeles, ain't it, Mason?

But seems like you're up here on some sort of

a property lawsuit, ain't that right?

Our chief witness scheduled in that trial tomorrow

unfortunately happens to be your murder victim.

They tell me all sorts of things happen in a murder trial

in the big city... Things like, oh...

tampering with the evidence,

some smart-alecky lawyer fussing with the witnesses...

Well, just pulling all sorts of shenanigans.

Wouldn't want that to happen up here, Mr. Mason.

No, sir, I wouldn't like that at all.

Looks like my boys are all through here.

I... guess I can go.

See you around. Ma'am.

Brr! Can get mighty cold

under that there desert sun.

Yes, sirree.

I, uh... found this next to the tree.

What do you make of it?

Ah, it's a small piece of wood shard,

probably from the same box

the sheriff's piece of wood came from.

The box that held the bomb.

Now, Paul, I'd like you to search this area.

Anything the sheriff hasn't picked up, anything

that looks as if it came from that explosion,

tag it with the time, date, place and your initials.

Maybe the sheriff had reason to be worried.

Perry, are we here on an ejectment action

or on a murder trial?

Della's right, Perry.

The last person in the world

Judy Bryant would kill would be her stepfather.

After all, his testimony was worth

a quarter of a million dollars to her.

Suppose someone starts wondering

whether, in that ejectment trial,

Amos Bryant had decided to testify for his stepdaughter

or against her.

I spent a small fortune having that land resurveyed,

in petitioning the state to accept the survey findings,

and finally in purchasing the property.

No, Mr. Mason, I appreciate your position,

and I certainly want to be fair,

but any delay now would be prohibitively costly to me.

In obtaining the restraining injunction,

plaintiff posted a bond to indemnify you

against such loss.

I'm asking only that there be no objection tomorrow

to my motion for a one-week continuance.

One week, Mr. Farrell.

Certainly that can't hurt you.

I don't know.

Come now, Mason.

You're not only wasting our time,

but you're wasting the court's time with such a motion.

Isn't the court the better judge of that?

Your case, such as it was,

rested on the testimony of one witness,

Amos Bryant.

He's dead.

A week's continuance isn't going

to bring him back to life

No, Mr. Mason,

Ralph's right.

Any delay now would be financial harassment

your client's bond couldn't possibly cover.

The answer, I'm afraid, has to be no.

Seth?

Seth Tyson?

Yeah.

My name's Paul Drake.

I wonder if you'd join me for a drink.

I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes.

I understand they've got some real good lemonade up at the inn.

I'm sorry, son. I got no time.

You see, I'm just about

to take my sporting constitutional. Your what?

Ain't missed an afternoon in ten years.

Now, if you feel you're up to it,

you're welcome to join me.

Look, old sport, anything you can do...

Stop your jawin', boy, and come along.

Say, Seth, I understand

you've been around this valley a long time.

Yep, better than 50 years, I guess.

About, uh...

Say about, uh, oh, 20 years ago,

didn't you help Amos Bryant survey the river?

Yep.

That's enough practicing.

Right.

Well, come on. Tee up, young fella.

We ain't got all day.

Uh...

you remember that river survey?

Yep. I remember lots of things.

I remember when Matt Lambert

was just a young man in these parts.

Same Matt Lambert that now owns that house on the hill

and the inn and most of the valley around here.

Biggest developer in Southern California...

Yes, sir, that's Matt.

Like I said, I knowed him

when he was just out of college.

Yeah, he was a fine boy.

I remember when he went

prospecting for gold with Pete Starkey.

He was Judy Bryant's real pa, you know?

Good shot, son.

Now, you take that Sheriff Vincent.

He used to deliver milk back then.

Worked for old man Ordway, Ralph's pa.

Ordway started farming next to the river.

Ah, no luck at all.

He was a scrawny kid, that Ward Vincent.

He couldn't hardly lift them buckets at all.

Well, that broke it, son.

Seth, once and for all, will you or won't you

testify in court tomorrow about that river survey?

Is that what you been hinting at all day?

You should have come right out and asked me. Well, will you?

Of course, I'd be glad to testify.

Say, son, you know, you look all done in.

Come on. I'll buy you a lemonade.

Well, there's a rapid fall near the source

as there is in the Rodero River headwaters

above Manzana Valley.

The river will carry down large stones,

rocks, even boulders.

You, uh, start out with what appears to be

a newly formed sand bar of sorts

and end up with a considerable area of new land in time.

New land which makes it appear

that the river has changed its course.

You personally examined both the river and the land,

now the subject of litigation?

Yes, sir.

As an expert, what conclusion have you come to

concerning that land?

Oh, it was unquestionably created by accretion;

the gradual addition of

new land on old land

within the past 20 or 30 years.

There ain't no question of it, no, sirree.

That's no boundary line.

That there line's a meander line.

And when you made that survey with Amos Bryant,

the line was indicated in courses and distances.

How far was it from the river?

It weren't from the river, mister.

It was plumb on it.

Why, that there river ran a good 300 feet further east

than it does now.

Thank you, Mr. Tyson.

Your witness, Mr. Ordway.

Your Honor, may I have a moment, please?

Certainly, Mr. Ordway.

Mr. Ordway, the court is waiting.

Yes, Your Honor, excuse me.

But we had requested certain information

from the sheriff's office,

information that would have considerable bearing

on the unexpected testimony of the witness Seth Tyson.

If you have that testimony now, would you please proceed?

Yes, Your Honor.

Amos Bryant made that survey in March, 1940.

That is right, isn't it, Seth?

Oh, '40, '41, or...

I ain't too good on dates.

You know, years got a habit of sort of sliding by pretty fast.

Even in a hospital?

What are you getting at?

You were in a hospital down in Los Angeles,

admitted the last week in February, 1940.

Now, look here, Ralph...

Not only didn't you help Amos Bryant,

but you weren't even in the county.

When that survey was made,

you were getting a broken hip treated

for six weeks in a hospital.

Counsel will approach the bench.

You, too, Sheriff Vincent.

My court has been badly used

in what appears to be a flagrant attempt to pervert justice.

I assure the court I was totally unaware

of the witness' background.

Sheriff, how long have you known about this hospital confinement?

Well, we just got the report in not more than an hour ago.

Just after Mr. Ordway here sent word

asking what we had on Seth Tyson.

The kind of a man Seth is,

wandering around the desert by himself... I...

I guess nobody'd ever known about that six-week stretch

he put in the hospital.

Only now, Judge, we've got a killing.

So, we started checking everybody out pretty thorough.

Your Honor,

we need time to review the facts in this case.

I request a 15-day continuance.

Just a minute, Judge.

Uh, like I said, we've been doing some checking,

and we've come up with some evidence,

a good deal of evidence,

including this $10,000 we found,

wrapped up in a scarf belonging to Miss Judy Bryant.

No. That can't be!

Well, there's that

and a lot of other questions we'll want some answers to,

so it looks to me like maybe Mr. Mason here is going

to need a lot more than a 15-day continuance.

You see, I have a warrant here

for the arrest of Miss Judy Bryant

for the murder of Amos Bryant.

No.

No! No!

I don't understand it.

Why did Seth perjure himself for me?

The way Seth tells it, he liked you, and he wanted to help you.

He helped you all right,

by giving you a motive for murder.

A motive?

With his testimony,

you no longer needed Amos Bryant's testimony.

Oh.

You admitted you borrowed the $10,000

to pay your stepfather's debts.

Instead of the money, Amos Bryant was left a lethal bomb.

And the $10,000 was found by the sheriff, wrapped in your scarf

and hidden in the bottom of your golf bag at the inn.

Mr. Mason, I swear to you

that I put the money in the box I left by the river.

I did not put it in my golf bag.

You denied me the chance to help

by acting without my knowledge.

Agreeing to give the money to Amos Bryant was not only clumsy,

it was unnecessary and stupid. Now, why did you do it?

I don't know.

Everything was going wrong.

I was trying to forget Neil,

but he-he wouldn't be forgotten.

My stepfather turned out to be...

to be...

Mr. Mason, I thought I was doing right,

but I was doing wrong.

Judy...

how did you happen to own that land by the river?

Amos bought it for me.

Sort of a wedding present when he married my mother.

Your stepfather made the down payment on that land,

but he never contributed so much as one other penny toward

its purchase. What?

Your mother paid for that land herself.

It was his fault, not your mother's

that he ran out on both of you.

But I guess you never wanted to believe that.

Judy, you're a young, attractive, and very nice girl

who's made independence the prime thing in her life.

If this crazy world of ours isn't to become unglued,

we'll all have to face our need for one another.

Don't turn away from help, Judy.

Right now, you need it very badly.

♪ ♪

Well, that sure doesn't leave much time for somebody

to come along and substitute the bomb for the money.

No, it doesn't, does it, Paul?

Wait a minute. That could only mean, then,

that somebody substituted the box earlier,

before Judy even brought it out here.

According to Judy,

from the time she wrapped the money in that box

until she left it here,

the box was constantly in her possession.

But that's impossible.

She was playing golf with me all afternoon.

I know, but think back, David.

When you called for her, she had the box with her.

She put it in her golf bag.

When you brought her back, she took the box upstairs

to her room, put it in her dresser drawer.

Now, until she delivered the box here,

she never left her room

nor nobody came to her room.

Doesn't that put you right back where you started, Mr. Mason?

I mean, the substitution had to be made right here by the river,

regardless of how little time there was.

The way the lab men reconstructed it,

that was a real homemade bomb.

Sort of an amateur job anybody could slap together

after reading up on it.

I see. Now, about the serial numbers

and the marks on the money wrapper.

Can you identify them, Sheriff?

Yes. These are off of the $10,000 we found hidden

in the bottom of the defendant's golf bag.

Thank you.

Your witness, Counselor.

Sheriff, let me go back over your testimony

covering this homemade bomb that killed the decedent.

Now, the bomb was inside

one of the, uh, Gracious Lady gift boxes.

That's right.

Was the explosive mechanism of the bomb so constructed

that someone could have taken the cash out of the gift box

and replaced it with the bomb?

No. No. From what the lab men found,

the glue and stuff, that bomb...

That bomb was built right into the box.

Well, like I said.

I was camping out that night near the reservoir,

and I heard what they said.

Amos Bryant blackjacked that girl

into persuading him to agree to pay him

$10,000 if he'd testify in her favor.

Now, is this before or after the defendant became aware

that you could testify for her concerning the river property?

Oh, she talked to me about the lawsuit

before she met Amos that night.

And despite that fact,

the defendant did not turn down this,

uh, this request for the payment of money.

No. She agreed to pay.

Said she'd bring him the money in cash at 8:00 the next night

and leave it near the big rock at the bend in the river.

I want to remind you, Mr. Lambert,

as a hostile witness,

you will answer either "yes" or "no."

Now, once again,

was that $10,000 you gave Judy Bryant

the same $10,000 found in her golf bag?

Yes.

That was in the morning.

Now, on the afternoon of the murder,

did you have occasion to go into the defendant's room

and did you there see her

wrapping one of the Gracious Lady boxes

in wrapping paper?

What I saw was none of your...

Yes.

And did you see and can you identify

the person you saw driving away from the site of the murder

moments before the explosion?

Yes, sir.

It was the defendant,

Miss Judy Bryant.

The night of the murder, there was a birthday party

for the defendant's mother, Mrs. Bryant.

Because of our lawsuit,

I felt that my presence there might be embarrassing.

I, uh, take it you went out then, Mr. Farrell.

Yes, I decided to drive out along the river

and take another look at the site of the resort

I had planned to build.

Such a beautiful, clear night.

And did you go out there?

Yes. I parked across the river to get a better vantage point,

and I studied the area through my binoculars.

Now, will you tell the court, please, what you saw that night

across the river, through your binoculars?

I saw the defendant, Miss Bryant,

uh, arrive, place her package and leave.

I saw the decedent, Amos Bryant,

subsequently retrieve that package.

I saw the district ranger arrive,

and I witnessed the explosion.

Counsel for the defense will no doubt attempt

to create the belief

that after the defendant left the package,

presumably containing the money,

someone else appeared and substituted the bomb package

before the decedent arrived.

Now, Mr. Farrell, this is of vital importance.

I ask you, did you have that package,

left by the defendant, in constant observation

until the arrival of the decedent?

Yes, I did.

Nobody showed up in that area

between the defendant's departure

and the arrival of the decedent.

The package Amos Bryant picked up,

the one that exploded and killed him,

was the identical package left there by the defendant.

Judy Bryant was enticed by the possibility

of a quarter of a million dollar sale of her property.

But one man could ruin that sale.

A man who would either lie or tell the truth

only in relation to the amount of money he was paid to do so.

And Heaven only knows how large a share

of the quarter million

Amos Bryant would have ultimately demanded.

It is the contention of the prosecution, Your Honor,

that in fear of this man,

and in realization that Seth Tyson

would testify on her behalf,

this woman arranged a secret meeting with the decedent,

and then did, deliberately and with premeditation,

prepare and deliver the bomb that killed Amos Bryant.

Your Honor, we ask that Judy Bryant be bound over

for trial in superior court

and charged with murder in the first degree.

It would appear to me

that the prosecution has satisfactorily

made out a prima facie case.

And I'm inclined to so rule.

Mr. Mason, do you wish to present

a defense at this time?

Your Honor, with the court's indulgence,

if I'm given permission to recall just a few witnesses,

I'm prepared to waive a formal defense.

No objections, Your Honor.

You may recall your witnesses, Mr. Mason.

District Ranger Frank Deane, please.

Mr. Deane,

I previously placed in your possession,

tagged and identified, two separate sets of exhibits.

The exhibits on this tray, is that correct?

Yes, sir.

Now, you had certain tests made on these exhibits.

Would you please tell this court where

and by whom these tests were made?

At the Forest Products Laboratory,

Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture,

Madison, Wisconsin.

The tests were performed by myself and the laboratory staff.

Your Honor, this material was discovered by Mr. Paul Drake,

Mr. David Gideon, Sheriff Vincent and by me.

The prosecutor has already stipulated

as to its authenticity and to its source.

May I continue my questioning before, uh,

entering them as evidence?

Proceed.

Now, Mr. Deane.

This first set of exhibits was,

uh, found at the scene of the murder.

Would you describe this material, please?

Uh, remnants of the wooden partitions placed

in the bomb that killed Amos Bryant.

They were used to confine the dynamite

to the middle compartment and to fix the dry cells in place.

They're southern pine, rotary cut.

Three-sixteenths of an inch thick.

Portions of a, uh, vegetable crate slat.

Anything else that is distinctive

about these pieces of wood?

Yes, they still contain residue

of excessive amounts of glue used in,

uh, fastening the partitions and the battery supports.

All right, Mr. Deane,

let's go now to this second set of exhibits.

Uh, these from source X.

Have you examined this piece of wood?

It's a piece of, uh, vegetable crate slat.

The pieces of wood in both sets of exhibits

were cut from the same identical piece of wood

that you handed me from source X.

And this container of glue,

how does it compare with the glue found inside the bomb?

The glue inside the bomb came from this container

given to me from source X.

From your examinations, Mr. Deane,

would it be safe to say that the bomb

that killed Amos Bryant was put together at source X?

I would say so, yes, sir.

Source X, Your Honor, is a private workshop

belonging to one of the witnesses in this case.

And I should now like to recall him to the stand.

Yes, it's my workshop at the golf course,

but that doesn't mean that I made the bomb.

Who else had access to that workshop?

Anyone.

You got in, didn't you?

But is it not a fact that you keep the workshop locked?

That you've issued standing orders

that no one is to go into it?

All right, I keep it locked,

and I keep everybody else out.

As golf pro, that's my privilege.

As a golf pro, Mr. Gilbert, let me ask you something.

Do, um, golfers using caddy carts

to hold their bags and clubs

always keep those carts close by them?

That depends upon the player.

On your course, for instance,

are there fairways with dogleg turns

where players chip up to the greens?

Take their putters only, leaving the carts

on the fairways to be picked up on the way to the next tee?

It's possible.

So, the carts are actually unattended

on two or three of the holes for periods of up to,

uh, ten minutes or more?

Yes, it's possible.

Mr. Gilbert,

how long have you worked at the inn?

About, uh, three years.

And before that?

I was a touring golf pro

on a professional tournament circuit.

A highly successful one.

You never did lose your

well-publicized Gilbert touch, did you?

No. I...

I just gave up the professional circuit, that's all.

Just gave it up.

And what was your last tournament?

The Reno Invitational, Calcutta.

In which you were the prohibitive odds-on favorite.

But you bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes,

then four-putted the 18th for a double-bogey.

Despite the odds and the fantastic sums of money

bet on you, you only placed second

in the tournament, isn't that right?

Yes.

My investigation indicates the Reno gambling syndicate

lost a fortune on you.

Also that you bet heavily surreptitiously on yourself.

But how did you bet, Mr. Gilbert?

How did you bet on yourself?

To win or to lose? What are you talking about?

I'm talking about how and why

the syndicate forced you out of competitive golf.

And how and why they reached out

to use you after you went to work

here in Manzana Valley.

I don't know what you mean.

Oh, I think you do.

I think you know all about the syndicate.

I think you know all about its plan

on building a swank and respectable resort hotel

on the same property Mr. Farrell purchased.

You were being pressured by the boys, so you bribed Seth Tyson.

You didn't know about Tyson's hospital stay,

and Tyson couldn't know a murder investigation would reveal it.

So, he went along with you

when you bribed him to lie

about having helped Amos Bryant with his survey.

No. Why should I do that?

To keep Mr. Farrell from buying the property.

So you could deal with Judy Bryant.

It was you, Mr. Gilbert, acting as front man for the syndicate,

it was you who had someone call Judy Bryant

and make her that quarter of a million dollar deal.

No, no.

No?

The day before the ejectment suit on Judy Bryant's property,

you withdrew $5,000 from your bank.

That same day, Seth Tyson deposited $5,000 in his bank.

Now, do you deny you gave

Seth Tyson that $5,000?

I never attached any significance to it before,

but now that you ask, yes.

I remember Neil did approach me about a group of men

who were interested in buying some choice land in the valley.

I remember being very angry about who they were.

Those men from Reno.

That's exactly what I wanted to know.

Now, you, uh, play golf, don't you, Mr. Lambert?

I do.

On the afternoon of the day Amos Bryant was killed,

while Judy Bryant was playing golf with David Gideon,

were you by any chance on the golf course?

Why... why, yes, I was.

And Mr. Lambert, did you by any chance know Amos Bryant

before Paul Drake brought him back to Judy's trial?

Yes, I've known him for about 20 years.

I met him when he was making the survey of the river.

Are you in any kind of financial difficulty, Mr. Lambert?

Trouble?

No, not really. I...

A little overextended, perhaps, but, uh, nothing very serious.

Then you don't stand to lose every cent

you've personally tied up in Manzana Valley?

Uh, no. I... I recently acquired a half interest

in a group of mineral land leases,

uh, for land that is rich in lime deposits.

Now, a large chemical company is giving us half a million dollars

for the mining privileges.

That's more than enough to tide me over.

I'm working on closing the deal right now.

Mr. Lambert, why didn't you close the deal before?

Was it because you had to wait until Amos Bryant was dead?

Amos Bryant, alive or dead,

never had the remotest connection

with me or my business affairs.

I couldn't settle it because it was simply

impossible before now, that's all.

Who is Pete Starkey, Mr. Lambert?

A friend... my best friend.

For years we... we prospected in this valley in the old days.

Pete Starkey was also Chloris Bryant's first husband,

the father of Judy Bryant?

Yes.

Mr. Lambert, your half interest in the mineral land leases,

from whom was it purchased?

Why, from Seth, Seth Tyson.

Sure, I sold Matt a half interest in the lease I owned.

Glad to.

Why, this here valley'd be nothing but raw desert

if it weren't for the likes of Matt Lambert.

How and when did you acquire

this particular mineral lease, Mr. Tyson?

Part of an old California Spanish grant.

Picked it up a long time ago from the estate.

Didn't cost but peanuts in them days

to latch on to a 99-year lease on land

that was worse than worthless.

Got ahold of this one in, uh...

oh, late April 1939 or '40.

Just after I got out of that Los Angeles hospital.

You, uh, purchased the lease

because of the lime deposits in the land?

Nope.

Thought I found me a gold mine.

Only trouble was, didn't have no gold on it, not an ounce.

As far as them lime deposits go, I...

I didn't know about them

till just about a couple of months ago.

You mentioned to my investigator, Mr. Paul Drake,

that you knew Matt Lambert when he and Pete Starkey

prospected together in the good old days.

I gather then,

you also knew Pete Starkey.

Sure, I knew Pete real well.

Yes, as a matter of fact, in checking back,

I discovered it was you who found Pete Starkey

in the desert... Found him dead and buried him.

Exactly when was that?

Yeah, well, let's see now...

Ooh...

Yeah, February 1940.

Poor old Pete must have fallen.

Been dead for days when I found him.

Just after that, I went to that hospital in L.A.

You were there from the last week in February,

after you found and buried Pete Starkey,

through the first week in April,

after which you found

and purchased the mineral land lease.

That's right.

Right and, uh, most convenient.

Ms. Chloris Bryant, would you stand, please?

And would you please hold up that letter?

Now, that's a letter from Pete Starkey to his wife,

telling her he'd found

or thought he'd found a rich gold claim.

And telling her of a surveyor

who helped him mark out the land he hoped to lease.

That letter is dated March, 1940, a month after you said

you found him dead in the desert and buried him.

A month after.

Yeah, there must be some mistake.

You may sit down, Mrs. Bryant.

You killed Starkey, stole the survey

and then purchased that lease in your own name.

Now, I checked deeper into those old

Los Angeles hospital records.

You were admitted February, 1940,

for a treatment of an old hip break that had to be reset.

You were discharged

April, 1940, it's true, that's what the records show.

But it's also true, as one of the old nurses

and a former resident at the hospital will testify,

that you were permitted to leave the hospital

before your hip was put in a cast for a period of ten days.

Ten days during the month of March, Mr. Tyson.

Yeah.

For nothing.

For a lease that was worthless.

But later, when the land turned out to be really valuable,

you had to find Amos Bryant

and somehow settle with him, is that correct?

Well, I... I arranged for Farrell to find out

about the meandered river property.

And I knew that if he bought it,

Judy would... Judy would fight.

And I felt sure that would bring Amos out in the open.

Only trouble was... how to settle him for good.

So's he or nobody would have

any reason to get too curious about me.

And then you saw the opportunity to settle him for good...

at Judy Bryant's expense.

I heard Amos blackmailing the girl.

So, I knew how, when and where she was gonna pay him off.

I watched her from then on.

Now, making that bomb and changing it

for the box of money out in the golf course,

that was easy.

But then I had to make sure that...

everyone would figure she had a reason...

That she really would kill the man

who could hand her a quarter of a million dollars.

I had to fix that and I did.

I let Neil Gilbert bribe me,

so she wouldn't need Amos to testify.

It almost worked.

Almost.

Yes, sir, I killed once before.

I killed Pete Starkey.

Yes, and I killed Amos Bryant.

The land is unquestionably yours, Miss Bryant.

This agreement Mr. Mason drew up

not only compensates you adequately

but also in a very real sense, makes you my partner.

The property doesn't belong to me.

It belongs to my mother.

But your mother wanted the agreement

in both your names, Judy.

Mother, what am I gonna do with you?