Original subtitles

Five pat hands in these 25 cards?

No. No, I don't.

I'll bet another 500, and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.

Oh, wait a second, Maverick.

You're a gambler and can risk your cash,

but you can't put up a man's life against...

Look, hold on. Wait a minute. Wait. This is between Maverick and me.

He named it.

What do you mean, Gregg's life?

Hold it there! Drop that gun!

I ought to kill you now, holding that gun on us.

- I wouldn't have gunned you. - Sure not.

Bill, take a look in the house.

How'd you get in here?

- Well, I came... - Sloan's dead.

Well, yeah. He tried to kill me. - Tie him up real good.

You don't gotta tie me. Just take me to the sheriff.

We will, after we tie you up.

One beer.

Looks like your luck has changed.

- Mr. Maverick. - Yes, sheriff?

I wonder if you'd mind walking over to the jail with me.

- What's the charge? - Murder.

Well, you didn't do it.

Young fella over there is in trouble.

Seems to think you can help him out of it.

Well, I don't know. I'm in a bit of trouble here myself.

Yours can keep. His can't.

- What's his name? - Bill Gregg.

Keep the pot boiling, boys. I'll be back.

You remember. I was sitting on the porch today...

when you rode past my place heading toward town. I waved to you.

Bill's trying to prove somebody else rode out to his place just after you went by.

If so, you would've passed him on the road.

I don't remember passing anybody.

Well, you gotta remember.

John Sloan came out to my place tonight. He must've passed you.

Don't tell him what to say or how to say it, Billy.

Well, you remember seeing Sloan?

I didn't see anybody. I'm sorry.

Bill says Sloan was out there. Now, maybe he was.

- I don't know. - He was, I tell you.

He invited me out to his place tonight. He was gonna lend me some money.

You remember that. I asked him for it yesterday at the saloon.

Well, what say, Mr. Maverick?

I remember Sloan said no.

Well, he changed his mind. He came out to my place today to say so.

Said to drop over about nightfall and he'd give me the cash.

It don't make sense. You didn't come through the main gate.

That's the only entrance, unless you jumped the wire or cut it.

It was cut. Sloan cut it himself.

Don't know why he'd do that.

Sloan posted us at the gate to keep people out.

He always have guards?

Always when he had a big piece of cash around.

Tonight he had it from a cattle sale. Over $6000.

You say you heard two shots?

That's right.

Oh, sure. Sloan shot at me first.

Well, Billy, looks like you're gonna have to spend some time here with me.

Have to ask you to empty your pockets now.

He gave me that.

When Billy tried to borrow that money from Sloan...

how much did he ask for?

Three thousand dollars.

He must've changed his mind plenty. There's over 6000 here.

Wha...?

Looks like he figured to use a gun to get what he couldn't get by working.

- All he'll get is a piece of rope. - I'll check to the one-card draw.

Well, I just wanna see what's fair, one way or another.

So do we all.

Don't talk no more about it till a jury's picked.

- What? - Because some of you might be on it.

I'm here to gather up enough men to pick a panel.

Can't it wait for this, sheriff?

Well...

finish the hand, but make it quick.

I'll bet 200.

- Too rich for me. - Beats me.

Scares me.

All right, we gotta hurry.

You four are just the number we need to choose from.

Oh, but, sheriff, you don't want me.

I've known Gregg since he was that high. Been doing business with him all the time.

We all have. - Me too.

Nearly everybody in town has had business with Billy from one time or another.

Come on, let's go.

You too, Mr. Maverick.

No, thanks. I'm not a resident of this town.

You've been in town three or four weeks.

- I remember when you first came... - We know.

You're a resident, all right.

You'll make a fine juror. That's what this town needs, fine jurors.

- If it wasn't... - I don't have a permanent home here.

You can stay at my home while you're on the jury.

I've got a spare room, and I... - Charlie.

I have no interests in this town. No business, no nothing.

- What are you doing in town? - Playing cards.

- How do you make a living? - Playing cards.

Then you got a business.

Let's go.

Mr. Maverick.

You keep it. You've been a big help.

Is that the best story you got to tell?

- Yes. - It don't ring true.

You wanna make any changes, got anything to tell me...

this is the last chance to do it.

No.

No, no, there's nothing.

Billy didn't murder John Sloan, Jabe. I believe him.

Shouldn't you believe him too?

I should.

Yes, I should.

Morning, Mr. Blaine, sir.

Hello, Jabe. Been a long time, hasn't it?

Not near long enough.

Oh, come, now. Just because we're on opposite sides here...

- is no reason we can't be friendly. - I got reason enough without that.

Oh, don't be a fool, Jabe.

We've butted heads before, but that's all in the past.

I never saw a bobcat go to eating grass.

We've both had a few years to forget our differences.

- We're older now. - The older a rattlesnake gets...

the more poison he's got in him.

I'm warning you, Jabe. Don't make this a grudge fight.

- Warning me? - Yes.

I asked to be appointed to this case. It won't do me any harm when I win it...

and it won't do my enemies any good.

Well, I asked for this case too.

Not just because I think so much of Billy Gregg...

but because I think so little of you.

Oh, you're a bitter man, Jabe.

Because a younger man could shake himself loose from this cow town...

- make something better for himself. - Yeah.

Better for himself, but not better for the people.

You don't give two hoots for them. You never have.

But you could end up being the governor if somebody don't get in your way.

You think you can stop me?

I can stop you from using Billy Gregg as a stepping-stone.

Not with the case you've got, Jabe.

Maybe not, but you'll know you've been in a fight.

I figured I'd have no trouble at all staying off the jury.

After all, I was practically a witness.

But I found out that argument applied to almost everybody.

Mr. Caldwell, you're the owner of the Roan Horse Saloon?

Yes, sir. I'm the owner and the day barkeep.

I've been around this town ever since it started.

I can remember when we didn't have more...

Yes, yes.

Now, you were present when the accused entered your establishment...

and approached the late John Sloan?

Yes, that's right. It was Saturday afternoon.

And the customers sure had me hopping.

When Billy Gregg walked in, I was the first one to notice him.

All yours.

Mr. Sloan, can I speak to you for a minute?

Go ahead.

Alone.

Haven't got time. I'm busy.

We can wait the game for you.

Anything you gotta say, say.

I need a loan.

- Oh? How much? - Three thousand dollars.

- That's a lot of money. - Yes.

What does a boy like you want with all that money?

I wanna build a new place, get some furniture, other things.

Maybe a couple of heifers to bulk out my herd some.

Why so fancy? What's the matter with the cabin you got?

Oh, it's all right for me, but...

I'll give you 10 percent on the money. That's more than the bank gives.

Don't you wanna tell me what you need a new house for?

Well, Lucy Sutter and me are planning to be married.

I want better for her than what I got.

Why don't you mortgage your house and your beef? Deal them, Logan.

I tried the bank and every other place I could think of after that.

So I'm the last chance, huh?

Last one you can turn to? - Yeah, that's right.

Must stick in your craw to have to come to me.

A man don't like to ask money from anyone.

- Yeah, least of all me. - If you say so.

Come on, play. Keep it going.

Mr. Sloan, will you lend it to me?

I don't think so.

Your pa couldn't do anything with that scrubland...

and I don't think you will either.

The house and the herd's worth all of 3000.

Nobody else seems to think so. Neither do I.

- I haven't got the cash anyway. - You got over 6000 from that cattle sale.

Look, I don't wanna lend.

Now stop begging.

I shouldn't have to, Sloan.

When you was getting started, my father lent you $3000.

You never paid it back. You owe me 3000.

And I didn't pay that debt for a good reason.

Besides, it's run over so long a period of time, it's outlawed.

- It's uncollectible by law. - That's book law.

There's other law that should hold a man.

I paid your pa more than 3000 help over the years.

I got reason to think he took more when I wasn't looking.

Get up. Get up!

I wouldn't want you to kill him. He's winning a lot of my money.

This is on the house, boys. On the house.

And the boys calmed down, the poker game started again.

And I didn't have to buy a new mirror. The last time...

That's all.

- Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. - Thank you.

Your witness.

Uh, uh... Well, I...

I just wanna hear that one part over again.

About what Sloan said to Billy just before Billy went for his gun.

Said Billy's pa took him for better than $3000 while his back was turned.

No. You mean he just as good as called this boy's father a thief?

He couldn't have said it no plainer.

I'd like to point out that insults aren't shooting licenses.

Seems you don't need no license to go shooting off your mouth.

So we tied Gregg up and took him to the sheriff.

After that, we went back and rode the fence.

Barbed wire had been clipped on one of the back sections.

Well...

Well, now, Lem, when you stopped Billy Gregg, how did he look?

I mean, did he look wild and mean? Or did he look mostly scared?

Object.

- Defense is trying to lead the witness... - That ain't the point.

But I wish that someone would set me straight on one thing.

Why would a man who was supposed to have planned a robbery...

and then killed someone because of it...

take care to come in by the back door when he arrived...

and then run out the front door when he left?

Desperate, guilty men do things like that.

So do scared, innocent ones. That's all, Lem.

When you jailed Bill Gregg that night, had he been drinking?

There was liquor on his breath.

You went to Sloan's place and you found him dead.

Did your examination go further than the house?

I went to look over the cut fence.

Lem showed it to me.

That's where I found the clippers that did the job.

Thank you. Your witness.

There's something the prosecutor said that interested me.

Trying to prove that Billy has got just about

every vice that a young fella could have...

he dragged in that business about liquor on his breath.

Sounds like he's trying to say Billy was drunk.

- Well, he wasn't, Jabe. - He wasn't, huh?

Well, I'm sure he couldn't be all the things that Mr. Blaine says he is.

First he says he's drunk, then he says he's sober enough...

to put a bullet right in the middle of a man's heart.

I don't know, but looks to me like the prosecutor don't know...

just what he's trying to prove.

Them's the ones I sold to Billy Gregg.

About three months back.

Bill has always been short on money...

and that pair has got a busted spring, so I sold it to him for half-price.

I enter this into evidence. Any questions?

Yes. Let me see that thing.

Now, Cy, do you mean to tell me that you remember this pair of clippers...

out of all the clippers you sold through the years?

- That's what I said, Jabe. - And I know you mean it, Cy.

You've always had sharp eyes and a good memory.

And you're right as rain, Cy, these are Billy's clippers.

He told me so himself.

And don't nobody forget that. You'll find out why later on.

All right, Cy.

Well, now, doc, would you say that Billy was the sort...

to have a mean streak?

Objection, Your Honor.

I've stood by while counsel repeatedly used the name "Billy"...

to describe the defendant.

An obvious attempt to make a grown man appear...

to be a mischievous lad of 8.

Now I simply must object.

The good doctor isn't qualified to judge mean streaks.

Though I imagine he has removed many a bullet from men...

who were shot by models of virtue.

All right, hold it down.

Any other questions, Jabe?

No.

You're excused, doc.

The prosecution rests.

Mr. Blaine seems to think this is all a big joke.

That a boy fighting for his life is a pretty funny animal.

He wants to save time...

wants to speed up the case.

All right.

He'll speed up the case to send a boy to his death.

Well, I'll speed it up to send Billy Gregg out of this court a free man.

Call for my first witness, William Gregg.

Yes, sir.

Now, Billy...

Oh, I'm sorry. I meant "Mr. Gregg."

Now, Mr. Gregg, tell us exactly what happened.

In your own words.

Well, what happened that afternoon in the Roan Horse Saloon...

is pretty much the way it was said.

I was pretty riled, all right...

but going home and thinking of it, I was glad Mr. Maverick spoke up...

and kept me from drawing my gun.

Well, the next afternoon, I was sitting on the porch trying to think.

Worry my way out of things.

No need for that, Bill. I didn't come for trouble.

Don't drop your gun, then. Come ahead.

I came over to talk to you about the money you asked for.

I asked, you said no.

Well, I thought a lot about it since.

You think about your calling my pa a thief?

That too.

Maybe that most of all.

Like you said, your pa did give me some help when I first got started.

But your coming up to me like that in the saloon, and brazenly...

well, it sort of rubs a man the wrong way to have folks think that he needed help.

No shame in needing help. Everybody does one time or other.

Yeah, but it's like I said...

I did pay off your pa little by little over a period of time.

We never got around to writing any new notes or picking up the old one.

All happened so gradual.

Then your pa died, and you ended up with the old note.

- You could've said that yesterday. - That's just the point.

If I'd said it then, it would've looked like

I was trying to squirm out of something.

Naturally, I said something I didn't mean, something that wasn't true.

I know your pa would never steal.

- You tell that to the men at the saloon. - No, wait a minute, Billy.

I came over here to offer you something worth more...

than just apologizing.

I wanna make up for what I said.

Well, don't you understand? I wanna loan you the money.

And what will you take for it?

No mortgage, no interest, no nothing. Pay me when you can.

You don't want anything?

Sure, I do. I don't want you telling anybody where you got it.

Folks will get the idea I'm going soft. It'll be five times as hard to do business.

And 50 times as hard to keep my head up.

You got a big pride, Sloan.

Well, if I was a kid your age, just starting all over again...

maybe I wouldn't need it.

Now it's about all I have.

Seems I never really did know your good, Mr. Sloan.

You and a lot of other people.

You mind riding over tonight? I always post a couple men at the front gate...

when I got a chunk of cash around.

You can go through your north field and through the fence the back way.

I'll clip it on the way home.

Like you say.

You swear you won't tell nobody about this, Billy?

- Nobody at all? - Don't worry about it.

So a couple hours later...

I rode over to Sloan's place through the back acres.

The barbed wire was cut, like he said it would be...

and I went on through.

Now, Mr. Gregg, you've told this story twice.

You still say the wire was already cut, Sloan didn't ask you to cut it.

He'd done it himself when he rode back home.

He took my clippers and left them to be found.

I move that last be stricken from the record.

Strike it out. Disregard that last remark.

No one saw you on the trip?

No.

There were two cowboys at the gate.

I could make them out a little.

But I tied my horse back of the house, and they didn't see me.

Then you took special pains not to be seen.

You were willing to let Sloan's accusation...

against your father go unanswered if he lent you the money.

My pa is dead.

A little name-calling can't hurt him too much.

But I got my own name to make.

My own life.

And that money could help me do it.

So a combination of pride, which every man has...

and a will to make a name...

brought you unseen to the back door of John Sloan's ranch after dark.

You're twisting it all out of shape.

He's making it sound like I went out to dry-gulch Sloan.

I never. You're saying I didn't care enough about my pa to stand up for his name.

I simply stated the facts in your own words.

Object.

To what, Jabe?

The prosecutor's last remark or to your client's outburst?

To the deliberate baiting of my client.

Attack the evidence if you will, but don't attack the boy.

Now, you just sit down, Billy. Take it easy.

Everybody knows how much you loved and respected your pa.

I object, Your Honor...

to counsel's instructing the witness while under examination.

Sustained. Jabe, don't do any more of that kind of thing.

Yes, Your Honor.

So you entered the house. Then what?

I told you.

Tell the jury again.

Well, I tapped on the door.

Sloan was sitting behind his desk.

Oh, good evening, Billy.

- Mr. Sloan. - Come on in.

- How are you? - Fine, thank you.

- Let's have a drink, huh? - Yeah. Thanks very much.

Sit down.

Have a little celebration.

There you are.

To you and Lucy Sutter.

Makes me real glad that I'm able to help you two kids.

Go on, drink up. Pour yourself another one.

All right.

Watch this, Billy.

Here's the new house and the new furniture.

The beginning of a good life for you and Lucy.

Seven, eight, nine.

Does me good to see the sparkle in your eyes.

Thirteen, 14, 15.

What are you seeing, Billy?

What you said.

Most of all, Lucy's face.

- Twenty-one, two, three, four... - Twenty-five.

That's all right. Go right ahead, count along.

- Twenty-eight, 29, 30. - Thirty, huh?

Thirty 100-dollar bills.

Oh, you're not gonna count them again, are you?

For fun? Or don't you trust me yet?

- Thanks, Mr. Sloan. - I'm glad to do it.

Careful on your way out.

Hold it right there, Gregg.

Now, don't turn around.

Put your hands on the door frame.

- What's this all about? - Surprised?

Not very.

But I don't figure you'll gun me down in cold blood.

You'll hang for it.

What, for killing a holdup man? Ha, ha, ha.

Who's gonna believe that I lent you that money after what I said about your pa?

No.

But a hotheaded youngster, lifting a few drinks...

deciding to take what I wouldn't give him, folks would believe that.

- You went to a lot of trouble. - No trouble.

Just cut a few strands of wire and posted two witnesses out front.

But why?

You really think you're good enough for Lucy Sutter?

You.

A fool kid with nothing but a dirty shack and a few scrubby acres of land.

Well, you're not good enough!

Lucy's gonna marry me.

So that's it. You think, if you kill me, Lucy will have anything to do with you?

That's why I didn't go after you in the saloon, boy.

You think Lucy will mourn a thief for very long?

You're gonna die a thief.

Ugh!

I headed for the door and out.

Those two fellas came up and took me into town.

- That's all. - Those are the facts?

Just like it happened.

I never knew Sloan felt that way about Lucy.

No, I suppose not.

I wonder if Sloan ever knew it.

- What do you mean by that? - Oh, we'll get to that later.

Now tell me this.

The day before you went to Sloan's to get the loan...

you had bad words with him at the Roan Horse Saloon, is that correct?

I said it was.

Yet the very next day when Sloan came to you...

and offered the money, you had no suspicions?

At first.

What he said seemed to make sense.

A man noted for hard dealing who came to you...

and practically begged your help in not revealing a kind heart...

and you believed him?

Yes.

Yet you weren't surprised, you say, when Sloan pulled a gun on you.

No. I always thought he was a snake, and he proved it.

But you say you believed his story.

Well, he oiled me up and got me out there.

Sloan asked you to sneak in...

through a place he cut in his own barbed wire...

and you didn't suspect a thing. Just went right ahead, innocent as a lamb.

Yes.

Your friends and neighbors seem to find that...

as unbelievable as I do, Mr. Gregg.

That's enough, Mr. Blaine.

Don't draw the spectators into your prosecution.

I'm sorry, Your Honor.

Anyway, you believed him?

Yes. BLAINE: Why?

I needed the money, and I guess I was ready to be convinced of anything to get it.

And if you were ready to be convinced of anything...

you were ready to convince yourself that any means were fair.

That you were justified in stealing what you believed to be yours...

- because of the outlawed note? - No. I wouldn't have gone outside the law.

You were heard to say...

that there were other laws besides book law that should govern a man.

- I didn't mean it that way. - You decided to enforce the law...

and took not only the 3000 but the rest of the money as well.

- I didn't take anything. - There were over $6000 on you...

when the sheriff had you empty your pockets. That's true, isn't it?

- Sheriff said so, yes. - How did it get there?

I don't know.

Now, Miss Sutter...

you're one of the few schoolteachers this town has had.

If that weren't interesting enough, you're a lovely girl.

Isn't it true that some of our citizens...

have satisfied their curiosity and interest in you...

by stopping by the schoolhouse?

Yes.

And Mr. Sloan met you in town sometimes and held you in conversation.

You've had conversation with many of our male citizens.

- Yes. - The judge, for instance.

Jabe over there.

Mr. Hamelin. Jasper.

Would you say that all of them were in love with you?

Even Jasper?

Of course not.

Did John Sloan ever propose marriage?

No.

Well, did he ever profess a love for you?

Well, not in so many words.

Then how do you know he loved you?

A woman can tell about such things, Mr. Blaine.

Hm.

Step down.

Your Honor, my summation will be brief.

I won't dwell on the unshakable facts...

that have been offered in proof of Bill Gregg's guilt.

Those facts are condemning enough.

But there's something even more condemning.

The defense.

A fairy tale.

Without basis in anything except in the mind of the defense attorney.

We find ourselves still without a motive for the involved scheme...

which the late John Sloan is supposed to have created.

The defense went to the extent of placing the beautiful Lucy Sutter on the stand...

to lie for the man she was about to marry.

Now, I honor her noble lie.

She loves Bill Gregg deeply.

But the love she says John Sloan held for her...

is without proof of any kind.

No one else in this community knew of it.

Not the citizens of this town.

Not Bill Gregg himself.

Not even Lucy Sutter.

But the motive for Bill Gregg is evident.

Clear.

A long-standing hate for a debt he thought had gone unpaid...

a desire to make a home for the wife-to-be...

and an insult against his father's name.

I won't ask for a verdict of guilty.

There can be no other.

Pass your ballots down as soon as you've voted.

"Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Guilty. Guilty.

Guilty. Guilty.

Guilty. Guilty.

- Not guilty." - What?

Oh, that's right. "Not guilty."

"Guilty. Guilty."

One "not guilty."

Is somebody trying to make a joke out of this?

You sound as if a man doesn't have a right to his own vote.

- It was you? - That's right.

You've got no right to hold things up. You don't even belong in this town.

We're gonna have another vote right now, and this time we do it right.

Now, hold on, Pike. Let him have his say.

Must have reasons. The man don't do things without reasons.

First, I'd like to suggest a little bet to Mr. Pike.

- A bet? - We haven't got time for that.

Well, business is where you find it.

We'll all be old men before I change my vote and let Bill Gregg hang.

And we'll all be long in our graves before I let a man guilty as sin go free.

Which brings us to that little bet.

I have $500 here that says we leave this room...

with a verdict for acquittal.

Five.

It's a fool thing, offering a bet like that.

There's 11 of us here already said he's guilty.

I've played poker with you, Mr. Pike.

You like to get your man out on a limb if you hold four aces.

Well, you're holding them.

You've heard the bet. Am I called?

You can hold the stakes.

Um... Now, wait a minute. Let's name it again.

You say that the verdict will be unanimous for innocent, and that includes my vote?

Done.

You notice how Mr. Pike put his finger right on the point...

that made the odds so bad against me.

Pike himself must vote for acquittal.

- Go ahead, Maverick. What about reasons? - Yes. What do you mean?

That afternoon in the Roan Horse Saloon...

you remember that Sloan called Gregg's father a thief?

That's right.

I wonder why Sloan should practically force Gregg...

into drawing a gun on him.

The boy was pushing him.

Hard enough that a simple "no" wouldn't do?

- Sloan didn't have to yell "thief." - I think the man's got a point.

Gregg told a story so unbelievable that even he couldn't give a reason for it.

But that argument in the saloon was set up by Sloan.

He asked for it.

That part fits Gregg's story. - "Story."

What else could he say? That's the best he could do.

And Blaine tied him up in it.

Why, he looked guilty enough for hanging right then.

Oh, well, you can't judge by a man's looks, Pike.

When he stumbles over his own story, you can.

I doubt that.

Doubt. That's all I have to go on, is doubt.

And how many of you men would let Bill Gregg hang...

if there was any doubt at all? Any reasonable doubt.

All right, boys, pass them down as soon as you voted.

Here we are.

"Guilty.

Guilty.

Not guilty."

Mine is still here. Looks like I'm not alone anymore.

"Guilty. Guilty.

Not guilty. Not guilty.

Guilty. Guilty.

- Guilty." And mine. - And mine.

Eight to four.

You let fancy talk switch you over?

It's none of your business how I vote on a secret ballot.

Call for a poll and I'll say I vote guilty, same as I wrote.

And I say it's none of your business, Pike. But I vote not guilty.

Mr. Maverick said reasonable doubt. Well, I've got one.

Everybody knows Sloan was a hard man...

and not the straightest when he figured to lose.

You ought to know that, Pike.

You and him had trouble when he cheated at cards.

That was between him and me.

I knew it and he knew he couldn't get away with it.

But a man who will cheat once will cheat twice.

Maybe. But Sloan would stink at murder. I know that, and so does everybody else.

And from what I've heard...

there's even less chance that Bill Gregg would kill.

So it's just a difference of opinion, Mr. Pike.

And there's a point there, Pike.

Get this, then. My opinion won't change.

Maverick can tell all the bedtime stories he wants...

but facts are facts...

and as long as I got a vote, Bill Gregg don't go free.

- Do you understand me? - I'll vote as I see it.

You know something, Pike?

Here we are, all listening to reason, or trying to...

and you're just digging in your heels to make a stand no matter what.

Maverick is talking about reasons. I'm talking about fact.

What can he do with this fact?

Gregg says Sloan gave him $3000. The sheriff found over 6.

All the cash that Sloan had.

What does that look like to you?

I'll admit that part bothered me too. It's a pretty strong point.

Hey, you're doing a lot of talking, but you got no answers.

Just as Sloan had to set the scene, so have I.

How many of you would believe...

a man wouldn't know how much money was handed to him?

You, Mr. Hamelin?

Hamelin always counts things three or four times.

Business. Gotta watch yourself.

A man wouldn't be shortchanged. No sensible man.

Right. Anyone's careful about being shortchanged.

About getting less than what is due him.

But is anyone too careful about getting more?

Are you trying to tell me that Bill Gregg stood there and didn't know...

Sloan was giving him more than twice as much as he was supposed to?

- You said it for me. - I don't believe it.

Oh, it's not a hard trick to fool a man with.

Not if a man is a fool.

We made a bet. Five hundred each.

Stakes are being held in your pocket. Take it out and count it.

Everyone saw the stakes put up.

Pike himself watched me count it out.

Should be $1000 there.

It's 1500.

"If a man is a fool." That's what Pike said.

- Yeah, well... - It ain't the same thing at all.

It's exactly the same thing, and you know it.

- Any verdict? - Not yet.

Better get a decision, or you'll all be putting up at the hotel tonight.

The sheriff's right. Let's take another vote. If it'll do us any good.

- That's all right. - First, may I have my extra 500 back?

"Not guilty. Not guilty."

- Eleven to one. - For acquittal.

And that means it's still a hung jury because my vote stays the same.

- What have you got to say about that? - I'm about talked out.

Oh, you're weakening, huh?

- No. It isn't a case of that, Pike. - Do you realize what time it is?

- We're all getting... We're all... - We wanna get out of it.

- Oh, come on. - Let's get it done.

Go ahead, take another vote. I say guilty, guilty, guilty.

First you say Maverick's making a joke...

and now you stand fast.

There's a reasonable doubt. Anybody can see that.

Mr. Pike has a right to his own opinion, just like the rest of us do.

We're deadlocked. Your opinion is fixed. Why do you still vote for hanging?

I've said it all along. Bill Gregg is guilty.

- That's your opinion? - Naturally.

You're a poker player, Mr. Pike.

You're a pretty good one, even though you only bet on sure things.

But haven't there been times when the sure thing didn't pay off?

When your opinion was wrong?

Isn't there just the least chance that Bill Gregg is innocent?

Not a chance.

Let me ask you something about the odds of poker.

What are the odds against drawing a pat hand?

I don't know. Plenty. Maybe 10-, 20-to-1.

Let's say 10-to-1, just for the sake of argument.

After one pat hand...

what would the odds be against drawing another pat hand?

Same deal?

Hundred-to-one maybe. Why?

- Ten times as much? - Yeah.

And a third pat hand would be 1000-to-1, and a fourth, 10,000...

and a fifth pat hand, would 100,000-to-1 be a fair idea of the odds?

Well, a few thousand, the odds doesn't matter.

I just wanna agree on something.

I can say, then, that the odds against five pat hands...

25 consecutive cards from a full regular deck...

shuffled, no tricks involved...

are, say, 100,000-to-1?

Yeah. Yeah, I'd agree to that much.

Would you say those odds are about the ones against Bill's story being true?

I'd say that too.

Now, what are you trying to say?

That your opinion, your judgment, can be wrong.

That you, like anybody else, can make a mistake.

I'm so sure of it that I'm willing to stake Bill Gregg's life on it.

I'll take the long end of the bet.

I ain't quite sure what you mean.

Take the deck out, spread it on the table. Look them over. Everybody, if you want to.

I won't touch it.

Make sure it's a 52-card deck.

It's a straight deck.

Shuffle them.

Shuffle them good.

Now cut them.

Again and again.

Are you satisfied that they're well-shuffled and cut?

Yeah.

Now deal off the first 25 cards, face down.

Now stack the 25 and keep your hand on it, Pike.

Set the rest of the deck aside.

Now let's make our bet.

I say that in those 25 cards that you dealt...

from a pack that you shuffled and cut...

there are five pat hands, not in regular order, you understand...

but the five pat hands are there.

Do you believe that?

Five pat hands in these 25 cards?

No. No, I don't.

I'll bet another 500, and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.

Oh, wait a second, Maverick. You're a gambler and can risk your cash...

but you can't put up a man's life against...

Look, hold on. Wait a minute. This is between Maverick and me.

He named it.

What do you mean, Gregg's life?

If I win, you vote to free him.

- And if you lose? - If I lose, I'll stop fighting you.

I can't expect the others to vote his life away.

This jury might still be deadlocked, but the next one will hang him sure.

There's a joker here somewhere.

You're trying to trick me into voting your way.

- Don't you trust your opinion? - You're a professional.

I haven't handled the deck.

The best manipulator in the world can't control a deck he hasn't touched.

What's the matter, Pike?

Odds ain't good enough?

You can win another 500.

I'm still figuring.

You're gonna make five pat hands out of these 25 cards?

That's straights, flushes, full houses?

That's right.

Can I shuffle them again?

It's an honest deck, Mr. Pike. You looked at them before.

Thank you, Mr. Pike.

Now, I'll try to put them in suits, see how many flushes we can make.

If we're lucky, we'll get three.

They seem to be running pretty good.

Looks like a straight flush.

Well, Mr. Pike, we did.

We got... We got three flushes.

Looks like four flushes there, Bret.

You're right, we have.

One, two, three and four.

I think, possibly...

The king of hearts and a nine.

We got four flushes and a straight, Mr. Pike.

Five pat hands. A diamond flush, spade flush...

club flush, heart flush, and a king-high straight.

- Well, that's... - Five pat hands.

I never saw anything like that.

Maverick, how many times can five pat hands be made...

out of any 25 cards?

Practically every time.

I call it Maverick solitaire.

Call the sheriff. Tell him we got a verdict.

Here comes the jury, folks.

For a while there, I thought we never would reach a verdict.

Well, hanging the jury would've been better than hanging Billy.

Come to think of it, we never did take a final poll.

Did Pike ever say "not guilty"?

Well, not in so many words, but we made a bargain.

Sure, but Pike never really changed his vote.

Maybe he's still sore at you for having made a fool out of him.

We'd better ask him now.

Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

Well, Mr. Price?

You do have a verdict, don't you?

Well, yes, we do.

I think.

You think?

Well, do you have a verdict or don't you?

Yes, Your Honor, we have.

Well, what is that verdict?

- We find for not guilty. - This is ridiculous.

The jury obviously is not in agreement.

I demand a polling of the jury.

The jury will stand to be polled.

How do you say?

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

This case dismissed.

Well, you made me look pretty foolish.

I'm sorry, Pike.

I was just betting that you were a pretty good man.

And a fair one.

How about a little poker? I can get back to business now.