All language subtitles for Perry Mason S06E09 The Case of the Weary Watchdog.DVDRip.NonHI.en.CBS

♪♪

Of course, I realize your
familiarity with Oriental burial,

or grave figures.

The small sculptures,
mostly of animals,

entombed with
dead Oriental nobility

as symbolic representations
of the dead men's needs

for enjoyable lives
in the next world.

But this one is...
is rather unusual.

Phil Rubin, in his
book on Oriental art,

comments on the
more than five centuries

that guarded the crypt
of its dead master.

I like to think of it
as not only faithful

but weary.

Yes, definitely.

A most Weary Watchdog.

It looks evil to me.

Perhaps I... I can show you
something else, Mrs. Holmes?

No. I'll take it.

Fine. Fine.

If you'll just sign here.

- Trixie, I...
- I told you not to come here.

- But I thought that...
- Busy, Miss Tong?

Oh, we, uh... we haven't
got what this customer wants.

Would you see that
the Kamakura Watchdog

is wrapped and properly
crated for Mrs. Holmes?

Right, away, Mr. Franklin.

Della, please.

The drive-in on Vista
Haven Road in ten minutes.

All right.

Mrs. Brent.

$25,000?

You must be joking.

Where would I get
$25,000 to lend you?

There's almost that much
in my mother's estate,

but I can't touch it
for at least a year.

- But, Janet, that...
- Della, you're my only hope.

You're my only friend.

I must have the money.

I must have it now. I must.

No why's, no wherefores,

just $25,000, like that.

Please?

You'll get every
penny of it back.

Look, why don't you
come back to the office?

Talk to Perry. I know
he can help you.

No. No, I can't. I...

What is it, Janet? What's wrong?

Della, you will never know how
desperate I am at this moment.

There's only one of two
things that I can use...

That $25,000 or a gun.

Please, Della.

Janet...

Janet!

A gun.

Something special
tonight, Della.

- Two, uh, Hong Kong dinners, please.
- Two specials.

No, no. Two Hong Kong dinners.

But I heard you
say, "Two specials."

Mr. Mason, Miss Street,

uh, your distinguished presence
fills my establishment with honor.

High flattery and
delicious food,

and from the Honorable
Cee Cee himself.

Merely an apology
for my awkward son,

uh, not so successfully
learning his father's business.

Uh, may I present
my son, Dean Chang.

When the head is filled
with thoughts of love,

uh, the ears are
sometimes closed.

I'll put in the order.
Two Hong Kong dinners.

I wouldn't worry, Cee Cee.

He's young enough that
he can afford a few mistakes.

There is hope then, Mr. Mason.

Uh, for if a fool persists in
his folly, he may become wise.

Enjoy your dinner.

Well, can I help?

How far would
you go for a friend?

How long is forever?

I need $25,000.

Need what?

No questions asked.

Twenty-five thousand
dollars, like that.

Without questions
and without facts.

Mr. Franklin asked, would you please
also initial these vouchers, Mr. Brent?

Oh, yes, yes. Fabulous
man... Ed Franklin.

Simply fabulous.

Couldn't begin to run
the business without him.

Not at all.

Yeah. There you are.

Signed, sealed, and ready
for you to deliver, Miss Tong.

- Run along now.
- Thank you, Mr. Brent.

Well, now,

most enjoyable lunch

with two charming and
most enjoyable ladies.

And now you're anxious to get
back to your stamp collection.

Oh, a fabulous set
of first-aid covers.

Simply fabulous.

- You care to see them, Della?
- Oh...

Uh, Alton, I think Della would prefer
to see the new dresses that I ordered.

Well, yes, that's a
very good idea, Janet.

Maybe a little later.

Of course, of course.

Did you get it?

Oh, Della, thank you.

And please trust me. You'll
get every penny of it back.

- I swear it.
- I hope so.

The money isn't mine.

Just as the car you got into at
the drive-in yesterday wasn't yours.

Della, I wish that
I could explain.

Look, Janet, I didn't mean to pry, and
it won't go any further. I promise you.

But when you left me sitting in your
car and took off in somebody else's, I...

Well, working for
lawyers and detectives,

I guess you just
naturally get curious.

Della, as soon as I can,
I'll explain everything to you.

To me...

or to your husband?

Are you going to ask
Alton not to question you

about how fabulous his store
manager, Ed Franklin, really is?

$25,000 exactly.

Uh, this money's
yours to give, I assume,

or have you added
larceny to indiscretion?

The forged hotel registration and
the photographs you staged, please.

Make quite a story in
some peephole, exposé rag.

"Wife of Pillar of L.A.
Society in Drunken Spree."

What an easy mark.

A bartender with a loaded drink,
a friend with a loaded camera.

I think you're actually
proud of what you've done.

You poor, lonely,
neglected wife.

Tell me, Janet,

aside from his stamps,

is blue-blood Alton
really interested

in anything?

They're not in there.

The photo negatives and the
original registration are not in there.

You made a bargain.
You promised!

I promised to cooperate
for certain considerations.

25,000 of them.

You have the money!

I know I can't bleed any
more money out of you,

but there are other
considerations.

Your husband's
company, for instance.

What?

I want part of it.

Just 50 percent ownership
of Brent's Oriental Imports.

A silent, half interest in a
business that I already wholly

and openly operate.

- How do you expect me...
- Oh, no false modesty.

I'm sure you can
be persuasive. If not,

well, just, uh,
describe to Alton

what his social
register friends will see

if those pictures are published.

"Fabulous, Janet.

Simply fabulous."

Hello? Hello.

This is Ed.

I'm sorry, but I have some
unpleasant news for you...

A slight increase
in your overhead.

The price of my
services has gone up.

From 3,000 to 6,000 a month.

And, finally, an antique
Chinese headdress

worn by a Manchu lady of high
rank during the Chung Lung period,

approximately 1740.

The jewels are pearls,
symbols of purity.

And on each side there is a
butterfly, symbolic of long life.

As with the rest of the jewelry,

there is a delicacy and
manipulative elaboration

singularly characteristic
of the Chinese.

And that, I think, Mr. Brent,

ends the invitational
preview of your new showing.

Thank you, Mrs. Holmes.

And, of course, our thanks to
her husband, Commodore Holmes,

president of Pan
World Airfreight,

for making possible the delivery
of these simply fabulous pieces

in time for tonight's preview.

And now, eat and drink.

The prices are
simply outrageous,

and the proceeds go to charity.

You ought to wear
clothes like that more often.

Look good on you.

So does the yoke on an ox.

I never complimented
a lady ox before.

Nor kissed one, either.

Go wash your mouth out!

How many times
has he kissed you,

put his filthy hands on you?

Y-You don't know
what you're saying.

I was so smart, sneaking in
here, wearing a busboy outfit.

- It's real smart, wasn't it?
- Please.

I saw you kiss him!

You don't understand.

Dirty. You make yourself dirty.

You make this dirty.

I was worried about having
new things here for the showing,

but Galen...

Uh, Commodore Holmes...

Managed to deliver
them with time to spare.

You really must look at them
closely, Della, when you can.

- They're priceless.
- I know. I've looked.

I wish calories
were as expensive.

Do you hear that? Calories.

Oh, that's fabulous, Janet,
don't you think? Fabulous.

Alton, would you please
stop using that expression?

- Excuse me.
- Oh, Franklin.

Has Mrs. Brent spoken
to you yet, sir, about me?

Why, no. I don't
believe she has.

If it's all right, Mr. Brent, a
little later tonight, perhaps,

the three of us can
talk for a few minutes?

That's strange.

You ask to talk to us,
and she simply disappears.

Well, I'm sure it'll be all
right. A little later, Edward?

Fine. Thanks.

- If you'll excuse me.
- Mmm.

Oh, Franklin, one moment.

Commodore?

I meant to ask you this earlier.

My insurance man was
at my house this morning.

Some question about
liability coverage.

He noticed the piece that Zaneta
bought at your place yesterday.

I showed it to him.
Lucky thing I did.

It seems he's also a
qualified art appraiser.

Oh, come now, Galen.

Don't tell me Edward
overcharged your charming wife?

She was charged $10,000

for something the appraiser
said wasn't worth 50.

Just an error on the
appraiser's part, Commodore.

Do you mind if I
ask? This, uh...

This $10,000 piece worth only
$50... What in the world could it be?

A Watchdog, Miss Street.

A Weary Watchdog.

Well.

Killing yourself
won't solve anything.

Just make the scandal
that much juicier.

I didn't buy the gun for me.

Kill me, then run?

Still haven't solved anything.

I don't intend to kill,

only to force you to give me the

registration and the
pictures and the money.

Then run.

They're in my
desk, at the store.

We'll drive there.

Pick up the bags. We'll
go out the back way.

Look, Janet...

baby!

There's been an all-points
bulletin on this car for the past hour.

Sorry, Mrs. Brent. You're
wanted on a charge of murder.

May I have your
driver's license?

Better get out.

I'm afraid you've
made a mistake.

My name isn't Mrs.
Brent. It's Street.

Della Street.

Well, here she is, Perry.
And you can have her.

Hmph!

After involuntarily
spending several hours

in these, uh,
inelegant surroundings,

I expected you to be
gracious, if not apologetic.

Della, would you like it better if
I booked you and kept you here

for aiding a fugitive to escape?

You'd first have to prove that Della
knew that a felony had been committed,

that she was aware that Mrs.
Brent had committed said felony,

and that she aided
her with the intent

that Mrs. Brent avoid
arrest, trial and conviction

for the commission
of said felony.

And how could we
possibly prove that?

After all, Miss Street got into the car
by mistake, thinking it was her own.

Mrs. Brent's luggage just
happened to be in the back of the car

and her key in the ignition.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Especially since your own
car's at the garage for repairs,

and you took a cab
to the Brent house.

Mmm. Oh, I have
a message for you...

For both of you... From
the district attorney.

He says if and when Janet
Brent is caught and convicted,

you, Miss Street, will be tried

as an accessory to murder.

Well, what have
you to say to that?

I'm hungry.

That's feminine logic.
Cafeteria upstairs?

It's just a little
after midnight.

Couldn't we go to the Honorable
Cee Cee's Mandarin House?

Thank you.

And we'll just have some
tea, please. We'll order later.

You don't really think
I'm hungry, do you?

No, Della.

I assume that you've made a
date to meet Janet Brent someplace,

and I assume that
that someplace is here.

- Perry, this girl is really in trouble...
- I know that, Della.

Just let me say this:

If I see her, if you
introduce me to her...

All right. I'll talk with her,

but then I have to turn
her over to the police.

I'm an officer of the
court, and she's a fugitive.

I just have no choice.

So think it over carefully.

- Mr. Mason. Mr. Mason.
- What is it, Dean?

My father. He's been
arrested. He's in jail.

Cee Cee's in jail?

I've been looking
for you all over.

He asked me to come and get you
and take you to the jail right away.

Please, Mr. Mason, now.

All right, Dean. I'll
be right with you.

Perry, what...

I'll meet you back at the office

after you've decided
about Mrs. Brent.

You know, Perry, maybe we should
set up an office for you down here.

- You all right?
- Only a weed blooms well in prison air.

This so-contrite sunflower greets
you with infinite relief, Mr. Mason.

Andy, I understood the
charge against Mr. Chang

had to do with grand theft.

Why is he mixed up with
the homicide department?

Fair question, Counselor.

He isn't involved in the
Franklin murder, is he?

Oh, no, no.

The most Honorable
Cee Cee wasn't even near

the Brent house at
the time of the murder.

He was busy running
through two red lights,

speeding, and
driving recklessly...

All to avoid pursuit
by a traffic officer.

After Traffic picked him up driving
around about a half an hour later,

they made a routine
check of his car.

And found?

Something reported earlier this
evening as having been stolen

from the home of a
Commodore Galen Holmes.

Of course, Mr. Chang denied
any knowledge of the stolen item?

On the contrary, Counselor.
He freely admitted stealing it.

Don't ask me why
he sent for you.

It'll take miracle, not a
lawyer, to get him out of this.

Cee Cee?

Legend say when Moses throw
wand into Red Sea... no miracle.

Waters not divide
to leave dry ground.

But when first man believe in
miracle and jump into Red Sea,

then miracle happens.

Waters open to make dry passage.

You talking about this writ
releasing you from custody?

- Is that your miracle?
- See? Miracle.

That writ is returnable,
and so are you.

If you stay free, it'll only be on
bail pending trial for grand theft.

Andy, just what is he
specifically charged with stealing?

Well, the answer to that is also
the answer to my interest in him.

That, Mr. Mason, is an exact mate
to the so-called Weary Watchdog

Janet Brent used to
kill Edward Franklin.

Listen.

Della, get hold of Paul,
tell him we're back.

Sit down, Mr. Chang, Dean.

Hello, Paul? Yes, we're back.

Right. He's waiting for one more call.
He should be down in about five minutes.

All right. Stick around,
Della, take notes.

Now, Mr. Chang, you admitted
to the police to being a burglar.

Would you mind telling me why
you broke into the Holmes' residence

to steal the statuette
of the Watchdog?

Like the Watchdog,
separated from its rightful home,

I am in all things Chinese.

But if I am unworthy
expatriate, not so the Watchdog.

Statue belongs to China... To
people of China, to history of China.

What were you going to do
with the Weary Watchdog?

Return it to Taiwan.

I suspect they'd have more need
of financial aid then historic artifacts.

Well, he who give penny to
poor man receive one blessing.

He who give heart to poor
man receive five blessings.

All you're likely to receive is
five years in the state penitentiary.

- No. Mr. Mason...
- No.

Mr. Paul Drake, Mr. Chang
and his son Dean.

Hi.

I asked Mr. Drake to do a
little investigating for me.

All right, Paul.

Uh, Cee Cee Chang.

"Two traffic citations in 25
years... Both for driving too slowly."

Dean Chang.

"License revoked
for multiple citations.

"Now on court probation for
speeding and reckless driving.

If caught operating a vehicle,
would undoubtedly go to jail."

Admit it, Mr. Chang.

It was your son who ran
those red lights, not you.

I have already admitted
to police I am guilty.

It is my wish to
plead guilty at trial.

There's more than a
traffic citation involved.

There's a charge of grand theft.

Even a guilty man
needs good counsel.

Not so, Mr. Mason?

If that's your decision, that's how
your attorney will have to represent you.

My attorney? Not you, Mr. Mason?

- Not me, Mr. Chang.
- But why?

- Just because he confessed?
- No.

My secretary, Miss
Street, is in serious trouble.

That statuette in your car
is tied in with a murder case,

and with someone I may
be forced to represent.

A charge of conflict of interest
might jeopardize that potential client,

and through her, my secretary.

Oh, I'm sure you'll have no
trouble in retaining good counsel.

Come.

Thank you.

Two coffee cups,
Della? Where is she?

The law library.

Page 27 of the penal
code, section 189...

Murder of the first
to second degree.

- Mr. Mason.
- Yes, Mrs. Brent.

There's also Section
32... accessories,

which covers, legally, the position
into which you put Della Street.

- But, Perry...
- And Section 33...

Punishment of accessories.

Would you care to
refresh your memory?

Now, if there's something you'd
like to say to me, Mrs. Brent,

I suggest you do it
before we call the police.

I think this belongs
to you, Mr. Mason.

$25,000.

I thought you gave
the money to...

Did Edward Franklin have
the money on him, Mrs. Brent?

No. I stole it from
his desk at the store,

along with the blackmail
evidence, which I burned.

Mrs. Brent,

it seems that there are two
figures of the Weary Watchdog.

Now, the one in your room...
From where did it come?

Well, I liked the original
when it came into the store,

and Alton had a
copy made for me.

When you asked
Della to help you,

did you tell her that you'd used
that figure to strike Edward Franklin?

I... I simply asked her to drive
me to the store and drop me off.

Oh, she knew that I'd
been in some kind of trouble.

I told her that I needed time,

and she agreed to drive around for a
few hours and meet me at the restaurant.

Knowing that you'd killed a man, you
deliberately involved your best friend.

That isn't so.

I didn't know that he was dead until I
heard it on the radio in the restaurant.

What did you expect?

You clouted him three times on
the head with that tired little mutt.

- Did you say, "Three times"?
- Yeah.

It was three times, wasn't it?

Why, no.

No. It was once.

Just once.

Mr. Mason, do you think
that it's possible that I...

Possible? Yes.

Likely? I'm afraid not.

Mrs. Brent, you're
under arrest for murder.

Della, we thought she'd
come looking for you.

Mr. Burger sent
another message along.

This is official.

Don't leave town, Miss Street.

As my wife and I approached, I
clearly overheard Mr. Franklin say,

"Later tonight, perhaps the three
of us can talk for a few minutes."

Then Mr. Franklin turned
to Mrs. Brent and asked her,

"You don't mind, Mrs. Brent?"

And what happened
then, Commodore?

Well, there was a moment
of, uh, rather tense silence.

And then Mrs. Brent turned
and walked away without a word.

I think that'll be
all, sir. Thank you.

Mr. Mason.

Commodore Holmes, after Mrs. Brent
left, did you speak to the decedent?

Yes.

I mentioned to Mr. Franklin
that my insurance man had,

quite by happenstance,

examined the art object which
Franklin had sold to my wife for $10,000,

and he appraised its
value at no more than $50.

Mr. Franklin assured me
that the appraiser was in error,

and that he would properly authenticate
the true value of the art object.

And what was this art object?

The original, Mr. Mason.

The Kamakura burial statuette,

which I believe is called
the Weary Watchdog.

Mrs. Brent came down out of
her bedroom on the second floor.

She seemed agitated.

Well, the fact that she was
still wearing an evening gown

and carrying two
suitcases puzzled me.

It made me curious. Her
bedroom door was open.

I looked in, saw Mr. Franklin
on the floor, and ran to help him.

- He was dead.
- Mrs. Holmes, you testified

that the defendant
seemed agitated.

Did you reach that
conclusion alone?

No.

Another guest and I were leaving
the upstairs powder room at the time.

This other guest
ran to Mrs. Brent,

all but supported her when Mrs.
Brent appeared ready to collapse.

They went down the
back stairs together.

- And who was this other guest?
- Miss Della Street.

When Janet Brent
returned the $25,000

that she had previously
borrowed from you, Miss Street,

did she say where
she got the money?

Your Honor, I object to
the question on the ground

that it calls for disclosure of
a privileged communication.

Privilege? What
privilege, Mr. Mason?

The relationship between
attorney and client.

Mr. Mason, the
evidence clearly proves

that at the time of this
particular communication,

Janet Brent was not your client.

Furthermore, the
privilege you refer to

does not extend to a third party

if that third party is acting
not as an attorney's secretary

but as a friend to a
fugitive from justice.

Objection overruled.

Proceed, Mr. Burger.

Miss Street, did Janet Brent tell
you where she got that money?

Yes.

She said she repossessed it
from Ed Franklin's desk at the store.

She also repossessed
some incriminating photos

and a hotel register
which she burned.

- Is that correct?
- Yes.

Miss Street, did Janet Brent admit to
you that she struck Edward Franklin?

Well, not right first,
but later on, yes.

Now, the defendant left her home

and was arrested at Perry
Mason's office later that night.

- Is that correct?
- Yes.

Meanwhile, you were
apprehended by the police

driving Janet Brent's car

and with Janet
Brent's bags in that car.

Yes.

Were you driving the defendant's
car at the request of the defendant?

- Your Honor, I object.
- Well, it's obvious, Your Honor,

that Della Street's
drive that night

was simply a ruse to
help Janet Brent escape.

Conduct itself is an
implied admission of guilt

when a person not only flees
from the scene of the crime,

but then attempts to
avoid arrest and custody.

And that conduct was
precisely the conduct

of the defendant, Janet Brent.

Ed Franklin
deliberately drugged me,

and then forged
the hotel registration

and staged those
compromising pictures

so that he could blackmail
me and my husband.

But you had gone
out with him alone?

Yes, Mr. Mason, I had.

Now, on the night of the
charity party, Mrs. Brent,

the night Edward
Franklin was killed,

would you please tell this jury
what really happened that night?

When Ed Franklin asked to
speak to my husband and me,

well, it was the
end of the road.

It was the end of everything
that mattered to me.

I ran upstairs.

I took the gun
out of the drawer...

The gun that I had bought.

When he came in,

I... I pointed the gun at him,

and he picked up the bags.

And then, suddenly, he turned
and hit me with one of the bags.

I turned and... and grabbed
the Watchdog statuette,

and then I... I turned...

Edward Franklin was
struck three times...

One blow on the forehead
and two on the back of the skull.

The first blow stunned
him. The last two killed him.

How many times did you
strike Edward Franklin?

Once, Mr. Mason.

I Swear it. Just once.

I hit Ed Franklin only once.

Brought us some
sandwiches and coffee.

Well, if this is a private
wake, I'm sorry I interrupted.

You know, we haven't lost
the case yet. The jury's still out.

You sound like you
expect a guilty verdict.

I'm afraid it's very possible.

Janet didn't kill
that man. She didn't.

Of course she didn't.

She, uh, wasn't there, she had
no motive, and she didn't hit him.

All right. So she hit him.

Any decent girl would have
reacted exactly the same way she did.

Trixie Tong didn't.

Trixie? The girl who
works at the store?

Yep.

Paul, was there something
between Franklin and Miss Tong?

Well, I'm not sure.

But I heard Trixie and young Chang
arguing on the way out of court earlier.

She said something about Chang's
having no business getting angry

when he saw Franklin make a pass
at her that night at the Brent house.

The Brent house? You
sure that's what she said?

Sure I'm sure. I was
right behind them.

- What is it, Perry?
- Mr. James Wong.

I asked you to find out if he still
kept his apartment here in Chinatown.

Do you think maybe that...

Jury coming in, Andy?

No, not yet.

Maybe I'm talking out of school.

Uh, I don't imagine it
makes much difference.

I'm sorry. Mr. Burger's
pretty sure about that verdict.

He's asked to have a warrant
issued for the arrest of Della Street

as an accessory to murder.

Thank you.

I'm deeply upset about Mr. Chang's
trial in the morning, Mr. Mason,

particularly so since
you're not representing him.

He's a wonderful man.

Generous, good to a fault.

You've know the Changs for a
long time, haven't you, Mr. Wong?

Yes.

Since the older Chang
married his late wife.

Dean is his stepson, you know.

Her boy by an earlier marriage.

Dean and his father...
Somehow never gotten along.

Dean's been interested in a girl...
A Miss Tong. Do you know her?

Not directly. I never met her.

Young Dean spoke
to me about her,

oh, uh, two years ago, I think,

just before I left town
on an extended trip.

Seems the girl and her mother
were turning heaven and earth

to bring her father to
this country from China.

Dean knew I was
stopping off in Washington,

asked me to see what I
could find out, do for the girl.

It turned out,
from my inquiries,

that the father had
been dead for some time.

I remember wondering how to
break the unfortunate news to Dean,

when I ran into Cee Cee
himself in Washington.

The older Chang promised he would tell
his son when he returned to Los Angeles.

I don't think I've seen
either of them since.

Mr. Wong, you
said that Mr. Chang

and his stepson have
never gotten along.

A particular problem?

Basically, I'd say the
chief trouble is the fact

that the two of them
are about a century apart.

The boy has been badly confused.

As for Mr. Chang,

well, I think there's nothing
he wouldn't do for that boy.

- Including going to jail, Mr. Wong?
- Will he?

In a few hours now,
in Superior Court,

Cee Cee Chang will stand
with his attorney, face the judge,

and plead guilty to a
charge of grand theft.

Yes, Mr. Mason.

A good many years ago,
Trixie and I came to this country,

and my husband was unable to
join us then but hoped to shortly.

He... He never has. Not yet.

Let me understand
this, Mrs. Tong.

Your husband hasn't come
to this country because...

Because he doesn't now want to?

No, Mr. Mason.

Because he's... He's
behind the Bamboo Curtain.

"Behind"! A human
ox yoked to a plow.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Tong.

I know. You didn't know.

Nobody does.

Except the people like us

with fathers, husbands,
mothers, brothers, and sisters...

All of them like human cattle.

All of them tortured,

barely kept alive as
long as they can bleed us.

Bleed you?

Extortion, Mr. Mason.

A private extortion racket
carried on in this country

by someone in league with an official
from one of the provinces of China.

Blood money.

Yes, every week.

Every week, we pay
to keep them alive.

Oh, they make sure we
pay. They show us pictures.

Would you like to see a picture
of my husband with his yoke?

With his bleeding
back, pulling a plow?

No, Mother, no.

This extortion... are
you paying it now?

No. Not for weeks now.

Not since the collector died.

But there'll be
somebody new to collect.

To whom were you
paying the money?

We were paying it
to Edward Franklin.

Perry, I don't understand it.

Amicus curiae. How can you
possibly be a friend of the court

at the same time you're
representing a client?

Can't. You've got the
wrong courtroom, Paul.

Well, then, what's this
amicus curiae brief for?

Cee Cee Chang's case.

Perry, the Brent jury could
be coming in at any minute.

How can you possibly
be in two places at once?

We can try anything, Paul, once.

Mr. Chang, you have received a true
copy of the information filed against you.

- How do you plead to the charge?
- Excuse this interruption, Your Honor,

but it's vitally important
that I be heard.

I request permission
of the court to appear

as amicus curiae in
the matter now pending,

limiting my appearance strictly to the
present proceeding before the court.

Please come forward, Mr. Mason.

You are, of course,
familiar to the court.

Now, uh, may I ask what
purpose you hope to serve

by participating in this
case as amicus curiae?

With Your Honor's permission,
it is my intent to present a motion

to dismiss proceedings
against the defendant.

- Now, wait a minute! Wait a minute!
- Just a second, Mr. Alvin.

Dismissed on what
grounds, Counselor?

Corpus Juris Secundum.

"A motion to dismiss may be made by
an amicus curiae for want of jurisdiction."

Flinn vs. Krotz, Texas Civil Appeals,
293; South Western Reporter, 625.

Your Honor, Mr. Mason,
prior to this matter,

acted as attorney for the
accused in civil matters.

He refused to represent
the defendant in this action,

but now he appears
as amicus curiae.

I appear as a
friend of the court

in the interest of justice
and not as an attorney

for either the People on the one
hand or the defendant on the other.

The defendant is
charged with grand theft

in that he stole an art object
allegedly valued at $10,000.

As this brief in support of my
motion indicates, Your Honor,

the owner of the art object in
question, at a trial in another court,

testified under oath that the
object had been appraised

the day of its theft
for no more than $50.

Now, that's ridiculous.

We recovered the Weary Watchdog
from his car. We know what it's worth.

He's charged with
grand theft, Mr. Alvin,

under Title 8, Chapter 5,
Section 487 of the Penal Code.

The property stolen must
have a value exceeding $200.

Your Honor, the same appraiser
that valued that Watchdog at $50

subsequently admitted that
it was most likely in error.

And his appraisal of the Watchdog
recovered from defendant's car,

which defendant, in pre-trial
deposition, admitted he stole...

That appraisal places
the value at $10,000.

Mr. Mason?

With the court's
permission, Your Honor,

I think we can prove the
value of the Watchdog

and the validity of the
information against the defendant

without the testimony
of the appraiser.

This would require the calling of witnesses
before the court rules on my motion.

Your Honor, I object. I
strenuously object to...

One moment, Mr. Alvin.

Now, what objection or
complaint can there be

if the court grants a
hearing to an amicus curiae

when no action on the
part of the amicus curiae

can possibly affect the legal
rights of either party to the action?

Well, none, of course.

Your Honor, the prosecution in no
way questions the judgment of the court,

nor are we anything
but confident

that the utter irrelevancy of
the evidence to be adduced

will render completely absurd
Mr. Mason's motion for dismissal.

We withdraw the
objection, Your Honor.

Very well.

Oh, you may call your
first witness, Mr. Mason.

May I request that Alton Brent
be summoned here to testify?

He who does not bellow the
truth when he knows the truth

makes himself the
accomplice of liars and forgers.

Yes, uh, there were
two Weary Watchdogs:

the Kamakura, of course...
A most fabulous work of art...

And an inexpensive
copy that I had made.

- My wife kept the copy in her room.
- You're sure, Mr. Brent,

that the copy wasn't somehow
inadvertently, of course,

sold and delivered
to Mrs. Holmes?

Positive. It's child's
play for an expert

to tell the difference
between the real and the copy.

I personally put the real Weary
Watchdog in the store vault,

and it was from the vault that Mr. Franklin
took it to show to Mrs. Holmes.

I consider myself an expert
on Oriental art, yes, Mr. Mason.

I am presently serving as
consultant in that capacity

to the Greater
Metropolitan Museum.

And despite the appraiser's
claim to your husband

at your house,

you testify that the
authentic Watchdog

was purchased by you
and then delivered to you?

Beyond the faintest shadow
of a doubt, Mr. Mason.

Mrs. Holmes, who
is Madame Tzu Sen?

Who is Madame Tzu Sen?

I-I don' don't know.

I don't know!

Mrs. Holmes,

you've always been proud
of your Chinese ancestry.

I, too, would be
proud if it were mine.

Even if the dignity and the wisdom that
is the real China were only partly mine,

I would deem it a distinction.

Madame Tzu Sen, your mother...

She's still alive in China?

- Yes.
- Alive but a prisoner.

Isn't that why you were
afraid to acknowledge her?

Yes.

And to keep her alive,

for years, you allowed
the late Edward Franklin

to extort money from you as
he had from so many others?

Yes. Yes!

How, Mrs. Holmes?

By selling your relatively worthless
art objects for large sums of money

such as the Watchdog?

Was that part of the
continuing extortion?

Or was the Watchdog that was stolen
from your house the authentic one?

No.

No, it was the copy.

Thank you, Mrs. Holmes.

With the court's permission, I would
like to recall Alton Brent to the stand.

Mr. Brent, I believe you said

it would be child's play to tell the
authentic Watchdog from a copy.

Now, as proprietor of a highly
successful Oriental import business,

which should make you an expert,

the answer to what
I'm about to ask you

should be the same child's play.

Look at these two
carvings, Mr. Brent.

Fabulous. Most fabulous.

Both are Chinese.

One is from the Chou Dynasty.

The other, from the Han Dynasty,

was carved 1,300 hundred
years after the Chou figure.

Both beautiful,
both distinctive,

both easily identified
by a Chinese art expert.

Now, Mr. Brent, which is which?

Well, I th...

I don't know.

As a matter of fact,
you know next to nothing

about your own
business, isn't that so?

Franklin ran it for me.

Were you associated with
Franklin in his extortion?

No, no. I swear it.

But you did know your business
was a front for other activities?

Yes, I knew.

It wasn't Franklin, but you
did have an accomplice...

An accomplice who took
care of those other activities?

That's right.

Even before it was mentioned the
night of the charity party at your home,

you knew of the appraisal
on the copy of the Watchdog.

Now, how did you know?

My accomplice called me earlier.

He told me not to worry.

He said that, uh, Zaneta
had called Franklin,

and Franklin told him.

But he wasn't upset.

He said he'd take care of it.

Your accomplice did
take care of it, didn't he?

He stole the copy of the
Watchdog, brought it to your house,

and exchanged it for the authentic
one in your wife's bedroom.

- Isn't that what happened?
- Yes, yes, yes.

Now, who did the
actual exchanging?

Was it you? Were you
almost caught in the act?

Was it you who heard the fight
between your wife and Franklin?

You who then picked up the
Watchdog she had dropped,

and used it to murder Franklin,
who was unconscious on the floor?

No, no! Not me!

No, Mr. Brent, it wasn't you.

It was your accomplice,

Cee Cee Chang.

But how could that have been?

At the very moment of the
murder, the Honorable Chang

was running through two red
lights, pursued by the police.

At least so he has confessed.

If Mr. Chang is your accomplice,

then he is also
the extortionist,

the man in league with a
crooked Chinese official.

Dean, is it possible

that the man who knew
Trixie Tong's father was dead

knew two years ago
that he was dead?

Is it possible that he could be
the same man who broke her heart

and bled her of every
cent she earned?

No! No!

He wasn't driving the car.

I was.

I ran those red lights.

Will you excuse this
intrusion, Your Honor?

This is a matter
of some urgency.

Mr. Mason, if you don't
mind, the jury has returned,

and the court is
waiting for you, sir.

And this court is waiting
for you, Mr. Chang.

What superior man
seeks is in himself.

What the small man
seeks... in others.

Yes, Franklin work for me.

Become greedy, too ambitious.

Try to take my place, my money.

I kill him gladly.

Yes, you're right, Mr. Mason.

Weary Watchdog I take from
Commodore's house only copy.

The amicus curiae
motion is granted.

Case dismissed.

Bailiff, arrest Mr. Chang
on a charge of murder.

You said they were
waiting? Let's go, Hamilton.

Well, Della, young Dean
was afraid he'd go to jail

if he admitted he'd driven
his father's car that night.

And when Chang came home from
Brent's with the real Weary Watchdog

after he killed Franklin,

he used his own car
for the first time that night

to take the statue back
to the Commodore's place,

then was arrested by a traffic
officer for what Dean had done.

And I always thought he was
such a nice man, protecting his son.

His stepson. There was
never any feeling between them.

Chang wasn't concerned in protecting
Dean, only in giving himself an alibi.

Perry, they told
me I'd find you here.

Thanks for rushing
that dismissal through.

It's perfectly all right.

Della, the court has released Mrs.
Grant. You can pick her up on the way out.

Thanks again, Hamilton.
We appreciate it.

- I thought you might appreciate this.
- What is it?

After the jury had been dismissed,
the foreman gave me that.

It's the verdict they never
had a chance to deliver.

There are some things
I'd just as soon not know.

Perry, one thing I want to know:

what in the world made you
suspect Chang to begin with?

The Weary Watchdog.

He told me he took it to protect
China's historical art resources.

Well, what's wrong with that?

Well, the Kamakura Weary Watchdog
grave figure isn't Chinese, Andy.

It comes from Japan.