All language subtitles for Perry Mason S06E08 The Case of the Stand-In Sister.DVDRip.NonHI.en.CBS

♪♪

Sit down, Jahnchek. I'll let
you know when you may go.

Senator Cord, the sub-committee
has recessed for lunch.

We are not now in session,

so as Mr. Jahnchek's
counsel may I point out...

You may not.

I subpoenaed you out
of a Federal penitentiary

because it occurred to me that having
served almost all of a 20-year sentence,

you might have undergone at
least the rudiments of reformation.

It was my hope that you would
co-operate with this committee

in its efforts to expose the organized
criminality existing in this country today.

Fat chance, Buster.

Instead of co-operating, you
have blocked us at every turn.

In the course of this first day's
hearing, you have evaded, you have lied,

you have seen fit to plead the Fifth
Amendment no less than 27 times!

I didn't ask to come here!

Your attitude may be different
when you face a Federal Grand Jury

on charges of perjury and contempt
of a United States Senate Committee!

- What...?
- Marshal.

Yes, Senator?

Have this man returned
to the penitentiary.

- I don't want to see him again.
- Now, wait a minute!

What's this about a Grand
Jury? What's going on here?

You've been parroting your
counsel's advice... ask him!

All right, let's have it. What
was he talking about in there?

- We'll stay here for lunch.
- Never mind him. I asked you a question!

They had you cold, Steve... every
time you lied to that Committee,

they were looking down your
throat with documented proof.

I didn't say anything but
what you told me to say. I...

Oh, you knew about
that proof, before you...

Big Steve Jahnchek...

I'm elected Public Patsy
Number One! That's it, huh?

The boys upstairs, the
ones who pay me, Steve,

they figured the
odds, that's all.

Sure, sure! Let's not open
up any new cans of peas.

Let Big Steve take the rap, huh?
Let him rot a coupla' more years in jail!

Why not? Well,
I'll tell you why not!

I got dough waiting
for me... Big dough!

Enough to lam out of this country
and live like a king, that's why not.

Now, be smart, Steve. If
you've got a bankroll set aside,

it'll wait, it'll
still be there.

That's where you're
wrong. It won't. I can't wait!

Steve, the answer is
"no". It's got to be this way.

- I won't sit still for this. I won't!
- Hey! Cut that out!

Don't do it, Steve! Steve, they'll
throw the book at you! Steve!

Yeah. John Gregory.

G... R... E... G... O... R... Y.

1416 North La Brea Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California.

Night letter. That's right.

Relax, Nick. I never
saw you so jumpy.

Relax, he says.

You're the captain
of one little tuna boat.

Look at me, I've got 25 just like
her and 10 more on lease-purchase.

You don't see me sweating it.

No, I'm sweating for you.

I should have my head examined,
suggesting this deal in the first place.

You know what happens if just one
single step goes haywire, don't you, John?

You lose your shirt.

I'll make the tonnage,
and that means my

merger with Bickel's
cannery will go through.

Then I'll pay for on my boats.

If you deliver as much
fish as you signed up for.

- If you don't, you're dead.
- We'll see.

- Daddy!
- Hello, baby.

Oh! You didn't shave.

Just like when
you were a little kid.

Gone a couple of weeks and you
complain about your old daddy's whiskers.

Well, they scratch.

I missed you, you big Hunyak.

What you got
rigged for me today?

Some shopping? Stuff
for a trousseau, maybe?

Nothing so extravagant. We're going to
hear Van speak at a Woman's Club rally.

Oh, it isn't bad enough I'm losing my
daughter to a rising young politician,

I've got to listen to his campaign
speeches in the bargain.

I stopped by your
office. Nothing urgent.

Except, uh, maybe this telegram.

Anything the matter, fisherman?

No, no, it's just that, um...

Well, I can't go to the
rally with you, Helen.

Tell Van I'm sorry I couldn't
make it, but I just remembered,

I've got to see
somebody on business.

You go on. I'll use the
company car here on the dock.

The story on Jahnchek's
escape is almost a week old.

It's buried way in
the back of the paper.

- What?
- Don't be alarmed, Mr. Gregory.

I only wish to speak to
you. My name is Moray.

- I'm not looking for work. I am retired.
- What do you want?

From the Boston office of the
Swiss Federated Bank of Zurich.

Look, Mr. Moray.
I'm a busy man. I...

Did you say, "Swiss"?

Federated Bank of Zurich.

For the past 20 years, I've personally
handled your daughter's trust fund.

Yes, I remember your name now.

I've seen your name
on correspondence.

$200,000, half of
the trust fund paid

when your daughter was ten,

the other half is due when
she's 21... In less than a year.

Not an unusual
trust fund at all, sir.

Except for the
difference in the names.

See, a trust fund set
up by another man

for his daughter, being
paid to your daughter:

the girl you call Helen Gregory.

You don't know what
you're talking about.

As trustee of this trust fund,

you've already
accepted $100,000,

and I assume you plan to accept

the remaining $100,000
for your own daughter...

Despite the fact that the money

was left to someone else.

Get out of here.

The young man who is
about to marry your daughter

is running for Congress.

What would happen to
him, and your daughter,

if I lodge a criminal
complaint against you?

- For what?
- Felony fraud.

$100,000,

and you'll never see
or hear from me again.

There is a way...
papers I can sign...

Put me in your control,

to make sure that you make
only this one "pension" payment...

if you go along with me... now!

Every cent I own is tied up.

Where am I going to come
up with that much cash?

That's your problem.

I'll call you later.

Good day, sir.

As Mr. Gregory's attorney, I
appreciate your coming here

on such short
notice, Mr. Bickel.

You're trying to
renege on the merger?

No, certainly not,
it's just that I...

The fact is, Mr. Bickel, we'd
like to ask a postponement.

As you know, Mr. Gregory has $300,000
of his own company stock in escrow.

I have an equal amount tied
up, in case you've forgotten.

We realize that. But
Mr. Gregory finds himself

in urgent need of ready
funds for another purpose.

For what other purpose?

It's something I can't talk about. I
haven't even discussed it with Mr. Mason.

I don't know what you're trying to
pull, but I don't like the smell of it.

Either this merger goes
through, and on the date specified,

or it doesn't go through at all.

If that happens, you
forfeit your escrow.

You ought to know the penalty
clause. You helped write the contract.

Look, Bickel, you
won't lose anything by

letting me off the hook
for a couple of days.

- If I could only explain to you...
- It wouldn't do one bit of good.

The answer would still be "no".

Nick.

How much money is in that special
account you've been keeping for me?

Well, as near as I can
remember, a little over $100,000.

I want you to draw it out.

- All of it?
- In cash. Now, today!

I thought you told me you could swing
the new fleet and the cannery merger

without touching that
money... What's wrong?

Don't push, Nick, don't
push. I'd tell you if I could.

Okay, John. Anything you say.

I'll call and tell you
what to do with it.

Just get the money
for me. Don't ask why.

John Gregory, if I know you another
20 years, I'll still not understand you.

Why should I suddenly
leave town? Why?

Let's say you need a little vacation,
Mrs. Stone... four or five weeks.

But I'm a nurse,
on special call.

What if one of my doctors should
want me to take care of a patient?

They'll find another one.

I'll run you to the airport.

Or the Union Terminal, if
you'd sooner go by train.

Mr. Gregory, is something wrong?

Just go, Mrs. Stone,
please! And don't ask why.

Hey, what's all this? I thought
you kids would be at some rally.

Van? No speeches this evening?

Yes, sir, at the Armory.

But there was something I
thought I ought to tell you first.

I got a phone call a while
ago at campaign headquarters.

From a man who said
his name was Moray.

It was such a strange call.

Something about having knowledge
that would wreck Van's chances of election.

He said you'd know what
we meant if he told you.

He was kidding, baby.

He's a great one for
practical jokes, that Moray.

Clowning all the time.

I'll see to it doesn't
happen again.

Thanks for relieving our minds,
Daddy. We were a little worried.

Helen, there's nothing I wouldn't do to
protect you and your happiness... nothing!

- You know that.
- Well, of course, Daddy.

Darling? Hadn't we better
be going? You're due at 8:00.

Good night, Mr. Gregory.

Stefan!

Did you got my telegram?
Make all the arrangements?

Don't be scared.

Nobody knows
about us, or I'm here.

They're looking
for me in Boston.

It won't work, Stefan.

Why not? You got the boats.

You put the two of us on
one, take us down to Mexico.

I've got contacts there.

I'll need some dough, forged
passports, plane fare to Switzerland.

- The two of you?
- Sure, me and my daughter. Who else?

- She knows she's going with me?
- Twenty years, not a word, not a letter...

How is she? What is she?

Now you want her to pack up
and run off to Switzerland with you.

- Why?
- You want me to draw pictures for you?

Why do you think? The
trust fund. The 100,000 bucks.

She don't sign for it, I
don't get it, that's why.

You set up that
trust fund for her.

Oh, sure. For some
brat I never even saw.

One I didn't care two cents
for. I set it up for her, yeah.

She already got a 100,000 bucks.
Or you have, what's the difference?

The rest of that dough I always
figured as my own private nest egg.

For me... Big Steve... alone!

I wasn't sure, but
I'd have bet my life

that was exactly how you
felt... What you would say.

No, Stefan. Even if she were
alive, I wouldn't let her go with you.

You wouldn't y...

"Even if she were alive"?
What are you talking about?

Your daughter's dead.

You lie to me, I'll
cut your heart out!

There was a mix-up
in the hospital records.

I didn't know about
it till years later.

Your daughter's
dead, Stefan... dead!

You cheap, chiseling thief!

What about the money?
The money from the trust fund.

- What did you do with it?
- Held it, for you.

Ten years ago, the first hundred
thousand, I put it in a special account.

For you, for when you were
released. It's untouched.

What about the other 100 grand?

With the kid dead,
how do I get it?

I've got everything you need.
Notarized statements, records, everything.

You'll give me a
hundred grand in cash,

get me outta the country
on one of your boats,

fix me with papers so I can pick
up the other hundred grand myself?

- Yes, yes.
- When?

- I'll need a couple of days.
- No, no. It's too risky.

Tonight. I want it tonight!

If that's the cops...

- Hello?
- This is Franz Moray, Mr. Gregory.

Hold on a minute, please.

Somebody's coming over,
now. You'd better get out of here.

Tonight. I want
the money tonight.

All right. San Pedro Harbor.
The tuna clipper Helen G.

Near the oil dock.
It'll be empty.

Meet me on board,
in the galley, 9:30.

Don't fool with me, I warn you.

9:30.

Moray? Listen, the money?

You can have it.

Tonight, sir, tonight!
$100,000, cash!

Tonight. You know
where we talked?

The dock? Our boat, the Helen Z?

There won't be anyone on board.

Meet me there at 10:00.

The money? The papers?

- You'll get them. I promise.
- Promise?

- What are you pulling off here?
- Nothing, believe me!

I told you it would take
time. You've got to help me.

Now listen, here's what I
figured... If you'll stay here,

out of sight for a
couple of days, I'll...

- I said tonight!
- Listen to reason.

Is there a reason?

What's going on here, Gregory?

Mr. Bickel, I... I've
got to talk to you.

Mr. Bickel. Wait!

Listen!

It's nothing, nothing at
all. Just one of my sailors.

Drunk. That's all,
drunk. I had to hit him.

You hit him, all
right. He's dead.

I'm sorry, Perry. There's
nothing I can tell you.

You don't seem to realize
the position you're in, John.

I didn't kill him.

What was he doing here?
What were you doing here?

This is one of my boats.
I've got a right to be here.

You know, John,

when a man doesn't
trust his attorney,

he ought to get another one.

What's that supposed
to mean, Perry?

That I want the truth.

- Well, Lieutenant?
- Homicide, Perry.

All we have to find out
now is why he was killed.

Plus who he is, what
he was doing here...

And why Mr. Bickel just happened
along at so opportune a time.

Don't start hinting that I've got
anything to sweep under the rug.

I wanted to talk to Gregory, but
he wasn't home when I phoned him.

I knew that he had
a habit of coming

to whichever of his boats happened
to be in port whenever he was upset.

Why should I be
upset, Mr. Bickel?

Why not?

That man was trying to
extort money from you.

You know what you're saying?

Very much so, Mr. Mason.

I was curious when he wanted
me to extend that escrow.

And tonight, I received a telephone call
from someone who calls himself Moray.

He said he had information on
Gregory that could be disastrous.

He suggested I ask him about it.

Well, Lieutenant, if that doesn't suggest
extortion, then I don't know what...

Look here, Bickel...

Sorry, Mr. Gregory, I'm
afraid I'll have to take you in.

What's the charge, Lieutenant?

Suspicion of murder, Counselor.

I'll see you downtown, John.

According to his effects,
his name was Franz Moray,

formerly with the Boston office of
the Swiss Federated Bank of Zurich.

- Paul, I'd like you to...
- I know, be on the next plane to Boston.

No, I don't know why my father
went down to the harbor tonight.

I don't know anything...

except my father
isn't a murderer!

I'll go along with
that, Mr. Mason.

In all my life, I've never met
a man less capable of killing.

And neither of you ever
heard of this Franz Moray?

No. Not until I got that crazy phone
call at my campaign headquarters.

Mr. Gregory shrugged
it off as a practical joke.

I'd say it was
anything but a joke.

Helen, do you know of any
business dealings your father had

with the Federated
Swiss Bank of Zurich?

If he had, he never spoke of it.

I must know the truth about
his relationship to Moray.

If the man was
a... an extortionist,

I want to find out what
hold he had over your father.

Can you recall
anything at all...

any possible occurrence
in your father's life that

might furnish us with a lead?

No, nothing. My father never
harmed anyone in his life!

Except...

- Oh, that couldn't be.
- What couldn't be, Helen?

The automobile accident.

Back east in
Boston, 20 years ago.

I don't remember it, I
was only a few months old.

My mother and baby
sister were both killed.

Helen's told me about it.

You see, Mr. Gregory
was driving,

but the accident
wasn't his fault.

The other car ran into
him, so there couldn't

possibly be any basis
for extortion there.

Besides, Mr. Gregory's the one
who suffered, losing his wife and child.

I think the tragedy
still weighs on his mind,

the fact that they both died...

and we came out
without a scratch.

- We?
- Dad and myself.

And the nurse who was
staying with us, taking care of us.

Can you remember the nurse?

No, I don't remember her...

But there's a picture
of me in an album,

as a baby, in her lap.

The name underneath
the picture...

Stone, that was it.

Mrs. Margaret Stone.

Operator, this is Paul
Drake, Room 806.

I'd like to place a long distance
call to Los Angeles, please.

Come on in, it's open.

Yes. I'd like to speak
person-to-person to Perry Mason.

What about, Paul?

Perry, I went to the...

Never mind, operator. Thank you.

What are you doing
here? Hi, Beautiful.

How did you make out
at the Swiss bank office?

Oh, just fine. I talked to a
stuffed shirt named Corby

who wouldn't give
me the time of day...

Except that Franz
Moray, the dead man,

worked there but
retired over a month ago.

Well, we'll have to
see Mr. Corby again.

But before we do that, I...

want you to do some
ambulance chasing, Paul.

We're checking all the
hospitals near the waterfront.

The man's name was Gregory.

And when did this
accident happen?

About twenty years ago.

If you don't mind waiting.

I think I have what you want
on that automobile accident.

It was a couple of months
later than you thought.

Thank you very much.

They were transferred to a private
ambulance and taken to the hospital.

This can't be the only clipping,
Perry. It doesn't say what hospital.

I know, Della, but
we can follow it up

in some other newspaper office.

- Well, Paul?
- Hi. Pay dirt!

I found the hospital where the
car-crash victims were taken,

and it turns out to
be the same hospital

where Gregory's
daughter was born.

Here. Look at this
maternity record.

Notice it lists the birth

of a primapera female
infant, Susan Gregory.

Susan? Susan... but I thought...

Yeah, well, uh... This is the
auto accident admittance record,

dated exactly two months later.

It lists the mother and baby
Susan as Dead on Arrival.

The survivors, Gregory the
father, a nurse named Mrs. Stone,

and a baby daughter,
Helen, three months old.

How could that be? I
mean if Susan was...

Exactly, Della. If Susan
was a firstborn infant,

then how could the Gregorys have
another child only a month older?

You think that
might be necessary?

Yes, Mr. Corby. I'll have
to examine your records.

A man's life is at stake. To
defend him, I must know the facts.

The head office in Switzerland
would, I'm sure, be most disturbed

that the Boston
records and personnel

should be introduced as
evidence into a Los Angeles court.

That wouldn't be necessary if I were
to be given the information I needed.

I suppose you're right.

I, uh, haven't the file here,

but I can probably
answer your questions.

Susan was the name of
the Gregory's real daughter,

but of course you
know that already.

Yes, she was the only
child the Gregorys had.

According to the records,

Helen was adopted as an infant
about the time Susan was born.

At least the adoption papers
were prepared and being processed.

And as you said
before, that trust fund...

That $250,000 trust fund was set up
for the adopted child by her real father.

The adoption was started
before Helen was born.

You see, the-the mother
didn't want the child.

Would you please give me
the name of the real father?

It's been in the
headlines often enough

since he escaped from
the Senate committee.

Jahnchek, Stefan
"Big Steve" Jahnchek.

If I'd wanted you to know,
Perry, I'd have told you!

What actually happened the night
of your automobile accident, John?

Ah, there was a mix-up in
the hospital admittance records.

Somebody made a mistake.

The death certificate was made
out in my daughter's name, Susan.

But it was really Stefan's
child, Helen, who was killed.

You knew all this,

yet you didn't make
any attempt to correct it?

I didn't know. Not right away.

When I learned about the truth
of the mix-up, two years later,

I corrected it.

Except for the name. I
didn't that was important.

But you didn't
correct that mix-up

with the Swiss bank that
handled Helen's trust fund?

Now, as trustee...

Knowing your own
daughter, Susan,

had no legal right
to that trust fund...

You still accepted the first
installment of $100,000.

Perry, that money hasn't
been touched. Not a cent of it!

Whom did you fight
aboard the clipper?

Nobody. Nobody, I-I
just had too much to drink.

I fell down, I got messed up.

You told Bickel you
fought with a sailor.

No, I just made that
up about the sailor.

I didn't know what I was saying.

Why? Because you had just left
Moray dead on the galley floor?

No. I never saw Moray!
He wasn't due on board till...

You did have an appointment
with him. To pay extortion money!

I didn't kill Moray.

You started adoption
proceedings before Helen was born,

and that was a month before
your own daughter was born.

Now, why would a gangster like
Jahnchek ask you to adopt his baby?

Because he and I...

Look, Perry, 25
years ago in Boston,

Stefan was a waterfront hoodlum.

He smeared dirt on
the name of Jahnchek.

Such dirt that it
made me ashamed.

I changed my name

from Gregor Jahnchek
to John Gregory.

Stefan is my brother.

I only wish I could help you,
Mr. Mason. But I don't know anything.

Not about the murder, perhaps,

but there are other areas
where you might be of assistance.

The matter of Mr. Gregory's
real name, for example.

Okay, Mr. Mason, for
whatever good it does.

I knew John Gregory when
he was Gregor Jahnchek.

He's been my closest friend.

There's nothing he wouldn't do for me,
and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him.

Does that include hiding
his brother from the police?

You think I've got Big Steve aboard
this tub? You're dreaming. You must be.

What better place for a
wanted man to take cover?

The scene of a murder when
the police have come and gone?

You're wrong, Mr. Mason.
Absolutely wrong.

Jahnchek is not on this boat.

Then you will have no objection to
my going aboard and looking around.

You're just like my
brother, a double-crosser.

That's a lie, and
you know that, Steve.

He's never double-crossed
you in his life.

He's been doing it for 20 years!

I gave him my kid to adopt.
I set up a trust fund for her.

Then when she gets
killed in an accident,

he puts his kid in her place
so he can collect the money.

You make it sound
like he was crooked.

I'll give you something
else to worry about.

That Moray guy.

He must have known about the automobile
accident and the switching of the kids.

He must have used it to put
the squeeze on my dear brother.

Jahnchek, you say
those things in court,

you'll send your brother
to the gas chamber.

You are so right!

I'll send him straight
to the gas chamber.

Now, Doctor, can you tell us, please,
the condition of the decedent's body?

Yes, sir. There were bruises and
scratches on the face of the decedent.

I would say he had been engaged
in a struggle before he was killed.

And what was the cause of death?

Composite occipital fractures...

inflicted by several heavy
blows with a blunt instrument

on the head of the victim.

I show you this wrench,
Doctor, People's Exhibit One.

I ask you if it
could be the blunt

instrument which inflicted
those heavy blows?

This, or something
very much like it, yes.

When we arrested the
defendant, John Gregory,

his clothing was disheveled, and
he was bruised and marked up...

As though he had
just been in a fight.

I see. Lieutenant Anderson,
I show you this wrench.

People's Exhibit One.

I ask you if you've
ever seen it before.

Yes, sir. It has my mark on it.

We found it on the
galley floor, near the body.

And did you have this wrench subjected to
laboratory analysis, Lieutenant Anderson?

It was looked over
carefully by the lab.

There were many sets of
smudged and obliterated fingerprints,

and over them, on the
handle, one clear set.

- And whose fingerprints were these?
- The defendant's. John Gregory's.

Thank you, Lieutenant
Anderson. That will be all, sir.

Yours, Mr. Mason.

Uh, Lieutenant Anderson,

where on board the clipper
Helen G. Were the wrenches kept?

In a rack in the machine
shop, adjacent to the galley.

Was there a wrench
missing from this rack?

Yes, sir, there was.

Just one, Lieutenant?

No, sir, there were
two wrenches missing.

Did you look for the other one?

- We looked.
- Did you find it?

No, sir.

No further questions.

Oh, by the way, Captain Paolo,
you are aware, are you not,

that charges are being brought
against you for harboring a fugitive?

Okay, okay. So I admit it. Okay?

Sure I knew Steve Jahnchek.

I knew he was my boss's brother,
and I let him hide out on the boat. Okay?

As your boss's close
and accommodating friend,

were you aware of the meeting
between the decedent and John Gregory

the night of the murder
on board your boat?

The first I knew of that was when
the police got me out of bed at home

and brought me down to the
boat in the middle of the night.

Your landlady is ready to testify
that you received a phone call

late that afternoon
from John Gregory.

- Do you deny that?
- No.

And you immediately
thereafter went down to the docks

and ordered the shore watch
of the Helen G. off the boat,

explaining that the
owner had insisted

that he wanted no one
aboard the boat that night.

Do you deny that?

No.

I wish I could.

And when Helen...
Miss Gregory and I...

Left the house and
went out to my car,

she discovered she had
left her gloves in the house.

I went back in to get them.

And what happened when
you returned to the house?

I saw a man.

I didn't see his face, so
I couldn't recognize him.

But I saw this man
leaving by the back way.

Mm-hmm.

And as I started past the study,

I saw Mr. Gregory...
The defendant... inside.

And was he alone?

Yes.

He was speaking
on the telephone.

He was telling someone to meet
him at 10:00 at San Pedro Harbor.

Did the defendant
address the person

to whom he was speaking
on the telephone by name?

He called him Mr. Moray.

Moray, on the phone,
intimated rather than stated

that he could make trouble for Gregory
because of certain information he had.

And Moray suggested that if

I wanted to protect
our business deal,

that I should urge
Gregory to be...

I think the word he
used was "cooperative."

Yes, I think that
explains it, Mr. Bickel.

You were worried about your
merger deal with the defendant.

And you became more worried

as a result of this strange phone
call from Moray... isn't that correct?

I tried to get Gregory
at home, a few times.

As I told the Lieutenant, I knew
that whenever Gregory was worried,

he always went
to one of his ships.

And I went looking for
him down at the docks.

- It's all perfectly legitimate!
- Of course it is, Mr. Bickel.

You don't have to worry,
sir. You're not on trial here.

Well, I should hope not!

Now, after you discovered
the body of the decedent,

did John Gregory make
a statement to you?

Oh, he rambled on with some
nonsense about a drunken sailor.

And then he said, and I
remember his words exactly,

then he said, "I hit him."

- Any luck?
- Nope.

And I had a small
army looking for her.

Mrs. Stone is either
dead or out of the country.

Is she that important, Perry?

I have a feeling
she's very important.

An elderly nurse
who was involved

in an accident almost
twenty years ago.

What can she tell you?

What my stubborn client
has refused to tell me.

Speaking of clients,

Bickel's story certainly didn't
do John Gregory any good.

He sounded almost
as if he hated him.

Or stood to gain financially.

Can he?

Aside from the escrow,

Gregory sank most of his
capital into those fishing boats

on lease-purchase to
meet the merger terms.

You know, I think we ought to look
into that lease-purchase transaction, Paul.

Find out if Bickel's involved.

I'll get a man right on it.

Gertie, this is Paul, can
you ring my office, please?

Cele, is Jack Farnham
there? I want...

He has? All
right, let's have it.

Okay, Cele, thanks.

Well, no wonder we couldn't
find the missing nurse, Mrs. Stone.

Burger's had her
on ice for days.

He plans to spring
her in court tomorrow

as a prosecution
surprise witness.

Mrs. Stone, approximately
20 years ago,

you were involved in an
automobile accident in Boston.

Do you remember that?

Well, it started out a pretty
happy day as I remember.

You see, Mr. Gregory was coming
home after three months at sea,

and they were going
to meet him at the dock.

They, Mrs. Stone?

Mrs. Gregory, of course,
their infant daughter, Susan,

and the infant child
they had adopted, Helen.

Now, Helen was a month
older than Susan, I believe.

I say "believe," Mr. Burger,
because I didn't know.

You see, I was hired by Mrs.
Gregory that very morning.

Mrs. Stone, Let's
get this very clear.

When he stepped off
his ship twenty years ago,

John Gregory had never
seen his own daughter,

or his adopted daughter?

No, sir, he hadn't.

Now, what happened, Mrs. Stone,

after you picked John
Gregory up at the dock?

Mr. Gregory was
driving home when...

When we had the accident.

Mrs. Gregory and one
of the children were killed.

The other child and
I were not injured.

But you all went
to the hospital?

Yes. With-With
Mr. Gregory unconscious,

I had to make
the identifications.

I'm afraid, Mr. Burger, it
was then I made my mistake.

I improperly identified

the dead infant
and the live one.

Helen, not Susan,
had been killed.

Why, I really wasn't
sure of it myself.

Until two years later.

And what happened
two years later?

Mr. Gregory was moving from
Boston out here to California.

I couldn't leave with
them, but before they left,

I told Mr. Gregory of my doubts.

Of the remote possibility

that the surviving child
was really his own daughter.

Then, of course, he
took some sort of steps

to check out the true
identities of the girls.

And what did he find out?

Susan, his daughter, was alive.

Helen, his adopted
child, had been killed.

Before Mr. Gregory
went to California,

he had me swear out
some notarized statements

and things,
corroborating her identity.

And did you keep in touch
with the Gregorys after that?

No, I didn't.

It wasn't until five years ago

when I came out here myself
on a sort of semi-retired basis,

that I looked Mr. Gregory up.

My appearing seemed
to bother him a great deal.

So much so he paid me $5,000

if I promised never to see
him or his daughter again.

Acting as trustee
for Helen Gregory,

the defendant accepted $100,000
on the occasion of her 10th birthday.

When he had you sign those
statements 18 years ago,

did John Gregory say to you

that among the records
he had to set straight

was the matter of a
$200,000 trust fund

which his daughter Susan
was not entitled to receive?

Why, no.

I never knew anything
about a trust fund.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Stone.

Counselor.

Your Honor, I
would like to request

that you adjourn
these proceedings

and grant a brief
conference in chambers.

You can't go on with it, John.

Every step you've
made gives it away.

You call the girl who lives with you
"Helen" because that's really her name.

There was no baby mix-up
after your automobile accident.

That it really was your
child that was killed.

That Helen is your
adopted daughter.

No, Perry. No, you
mustn't say that.

Why mustn't he, if it's true?

Oh, the bereaved father!

Your heart bleeds,
doesn't it, brother Stefan?

You never wanted her,
you never cared for her!

All she ever meant
to you was a gimmick.

A clever way to bury money
you could get your hands on

when they let you out of jail.

I'm going to see you fry!

Now, Jahnchek, that's enough.

Mr. Mason, I permitted this highly
unorthodox hearing in chambers

on your assurances it
would help solve the case.

But if the record's going
to show nothing more

than a vituperative
exchange of insults,

I shall deem none of it in
evidence, strike it all from the record,

and reconvene back
in the courtroom.

If Your Honor will just
be patient for a moment,

I believe we can
get at the truth.

John, why this
deception over identities?

Was it because you
wanted to get the money

and still claim Helen
as your daughter?

I love that girl more
than anything in the world.

Too much to let her be hurt,

knowing her real father
is a gangster, a criminal.

And the $100,000
from the trust fund.

You put it aside for
her, in a special account.

I also know that you
borrowed against it,

as against all your assets,

in order to close
that cannery merger.

You were lying when you told
me you'd give me that money?

- You were lying?
- No, no. You don't understand.

There were two accounts.

I couldn't rob Helen of the
money you set up for her.

The special account in
her name is my money...

Money I've saved over the
years, to match what you left her.

Well, what happened to my money?

That was the second account,
the one Paolo kept for me.

Your money, Stefan, untouched.

He was to leave it
for me on the boat.

There was Moray...
He wanted the money.

You wanted the money.

I didn't know that to do.

I thought you would
help, would wait!

Your Honor, I... I fail to
see the purpose of all this.

It really doesn't have
anything to do with the murder.

Even if this man did rig himself

into this impossible situation
for the sake of the girl,

we're still faced with the fact that
the situation led to an extortion,

and the extortion
led to a murder.

Judge, I'm willing
to plead guilty.

Well, I find your offer quite
paradoxical, Mr. Gregory.

In order to keep your
adopted daughter from learning

that her true father
is a convicted felon,

you're willing to expose yourself
to a possible murder conviction.

Wouldn't that have the
same effect upon her future?

Maybe, I don't know.

You see, my fine brother
there is quite a guy.

His wife didn't die
when Helen was born,

for the simple reason
she wasn't his wife.

He hadn't even
bothered to marry her.

Neither of them
wanted the child.

The least I could do
was to give her a home,

where she was wanted,

and a name that was not
only clean, but legally hers.

Will everybody please rise?

Mr. Mason, I believe we recessed

before you had an opportunity
to cross-examine Mrs. Stone.

I have no questions of
Mrs. Stone, Your Honor.

Very well. Mr. Burger, you
may call your next witness.

If it please the court.

To anticipate Mr. Mason,

and to make abundantly
clear for the record

exactly how the District
Attorney's office feels on this matter,

let me state now that it is with
extreme distaste and reluctance

that the State finds it necessary
to call as its final witness

a notorious, convicted felon,

now serving time in
a federal penitentiary.

I call Stefan
Jahnchek to the stand.

Yeah, that's the statement
I gave to the cops.

So what? It's not true.

Not true? Don't you try to
play games with me, Jahnchek!

It's not true that you thought
your brother lied to you,

and double-crossed you?

It's not true that you wanted
$100,000 you thought he stole from you?

- Those things are not true?
- No.

I asked him for enough cash to
get out of the country, that's all.

You expect me to
believe a story like that?

A fantastic story like that?

Why, just a few minutes ago, in
the Judge's chambers, you said that...

That's enough! I
told you the truth.

Mr. Jahnchek, do you know
what the penalty for perjury is?

Yeah. They send
you to jail, don't they?

No further questions.

What time, on the
night of the murder,

did you go aboard
the tuna clipper?

No time on the
night of the murder.

I went down there the next
morning, after the cops had left.

A little after 10:00 that night,

the man was seen in a
Gregory company power launch

drifting from the oiling dock

to another dock
some distance away.

Now, he tied the launch
there and went ashore.

I can produce a witness
to swear to that fact.

Shall we call that witness now,

and ask him if you were
the man in that launch?

All right, so I went
down to the waterfront.

But I no sooner got
aboard the clipper

when I heard someone
coming along the dock.

I was scared, so I scrammed.

You were scared because
someone was coming?

Yet you had gone there
for the express purpose

of collecting $100,000
from your brother?

All right, all right.
So I was there.

At a quarter to
10:00. Satisfied?

John Gregory was
marked up from a fight.

It wasn't a fight with Moray, it
was a fight with you, was it not?

Yeah. I tried to hit
him with the wrench.

But he knocked it out of
my hand and we wrestled.

Then he got hold of
it, and hit me with it.

But I wasn't out, see? Just stunned
when he went up on the deck.

Then you heard Bickel
shouting to your brother?

Well, how'd I know some
cop hadn't come along?

I couldn't go back on the
dock, so I went to the other side.

And I saw this motor
boat tied up at the clipper...

Just a minute.

Are you saying that
that motor launch

just happened to be tied
up alongside the clipper?

Sure. How else
would it be there?

Because it was left there by
the man who planned to use it

to get to the boat and to leave
the boat without being seen.

Nah. I saw the
launch. I took it.

But I didn't bring it there, I
don't know where it come from.

Your Honor, if I'm
allowed to recall a witness,

I think we might determine
the truth about this motor launch.

Your Honor, this motor launch
has nothing to do with the issue.

I must protest.

I believe the use
of the motor launch

by Stefan Jahnchek

is the key to the entire
murder, Your Honor.

Very well. You may
recall your witness.

Captain Paolo, when not in use,

the motor launch is
kept at the marina?

Yes, always.

Mr. Jahnchek stated that

he called you for permission
to hide aboard the clipper.

Now, may I take this to mean
that you gave him permission?

- Yes.
- Did you tell him he could take

the power launch from the
marina and bring it to the clipper?

Absolutely not!

You have heard testimony
that the decedent, Franz Moray,

made phone calls to many of
Mr. Gregory's friends and associates

in an effort to exert greater
pressure for his planned extortion.

Now, did Moray ever phone you?

Did he, Captain?

Why, yes.

Then you knew about Moray.

And you knew that Mr. Gregory
was meeting someone

at 10:00 that night
on the tuna boat,

and you correctly
guessed that it was Moray?

Did you not then phone Moray

and tell him to be
there earlier than ten?

At 9:00, say? Or nine 9:15?

No! Why should I?

Did you bring the motor
launch alongside the clipper...

so you could get away
without being seen?

Me? What is this, Mr. Mason?

You're talking about a killer.

I'm Gregory's best friend.

Would I commit a murder and
then let him take the blame?

You may not have meant to,

but when Jahnchek and Gregory
unexpectedly arrived and had the fight,

you had already killed Moray
with that wrench, that is still missing.

And you were hiding with the
body of the man you had killed,

in the machine shop,
right next to the galley.

You're crazy!

Jahnchek panicked and
took away the launch,

so you had no alternative but to
leave your victim's body in the galley,

slip off the stern of the boat in
the shadows and hurry home.

How wrong can you get?

I work like a slave to keep
that outfit going for John.

For yourself, Captain,
not for John Gregory.

My investigator has
discovered that it was you,

acting through a
dummy corporation,

who furnished the
defendant with ten tuna boats

on a lease-purchase agreement.

Okay. Okay, so Gregory
pays for those boats,

and I make a
profit! Is that illegal?

This trust fund, which you
kept in a special account

under your own name...

Isn't that why you had to
get Moray out of the way?

Because Gregory had asked you
for that money to pay off Moray?

Asked you to bring it
to the boat that night?

But you couldn't, could you?

You'd already used that money
to get control of the ten tuna boats.

Captain?

Why not?

Why not?

Why should I be the skipper of
one lousy tuna boat while he got rich?

Sure. Sure, I used the
money to tie up the boats.

If that cannery
deal went through,

John would pay plenty
to get those boats.

I could put the money
back and still make a fortune.

And then came the extortionist,
and Gregory wanted the money.

And the money that wasn't there.

I...

I only meant to...

knock Moray out, and...

And ferry him to a freighter.

I was going to have him

kept on one of the
southbound tuna boats.

I never, never
figured to kill him.

I never meant to kill him.
You must believe that.

But I...

I hit him too hard!

I hit him too hard!

I hit him too hard!

- Congratulations.
- I'll see you later.

Right.

Well, was it worth it, John?

What do you think, Perry?

Stefan?

In the Judge's chambers, you
said you'd see me executed.

But on the witness
stand, you deliberately lied.

- Why?
- Wise up. I gotta be nice.

You're still holdin' my
200,000 bucks, brother.