All language subtitles for Perry Mason S06E17 The Case of the Libelous Locket.DVDRip.NonHI.en.CBS

♪♪

Unlike the ancient legal
code of Hammurabi,

our laws are not forever
chiseled out on 2-ton stone tablets,

as some lawyers seem to think.

Law is like language...
Changing, growing, maturing.

When you become
lawyers, remember this.

Remember it's not just a dead
something that you read and interpret.

It's a living something that
you yourselves shape and mold.

Well, as usual, I've lectured so long,
there's only time for a question or two.

Mr. Carson?

Professor Lindley,
you give the main credit

for the maturing of the
law to jurists and professors.

What about the trial lawyers?

Someone once said if you could
cross a parrot with a jackass,

you'd have the
perfect trial lawyer.

The parrot to remember
the rules of court procedure,

the jackass to bray them out.

Seriously, they're
extremely useful people.

They're the artisans of
our profession, I'd say.

The plumbers, the
carpenters, the repair men.

But don't tell them I said that.

Well, I'll see you
all Friday night.

Janice.

I was thinking about
you this evening.

First law class you've
missed in over six months.

My most faithful student and...

What is it?

Professor Lindley,
will you help me?

Of course.

I want you to go
with me to the police.

To the police?

Why, Janice?

I just killed someone.

A man I used to used to...

Used to...

I'm sorry I haven't any
brandy, but this should help.

I'm all right now, Professor.

You better drink some anyway.

Now what's this all about?

Who is this man you say you...

Killed.

His name is Rayo Perez.

A dance instructor I was
involved with for a while.

I've been trying to
break off with him,

and tonight I went to his
apartment for a final showdown.

It was final, all right.

He wouldn't let me go.

He tried to keep me there.

He hit me, actually hit me,

so I hit him with
the fireplace poker.

And then?

Someone began pounding at the front door,
so I ran out the back way and came here.

Perhaps he was just stunned.

Please, Professor, please
take me to the police now.

Janice, a few more minutes'
delay won't make any difference,

and if you're wrong, perhaps
we can avoid a nasty scandal.

Will you come with me
to his apartment first?

But I know he's dead.

Janice, let's make sure.

You've said everything, Janice,

except how you happened
to meet a man like Perez.

All right.

Why not?

I've always been the
ugly duckling of the family.

No social graces, no clothes
sense, a natural born wallflower

You know how awkward
I am, talking in class

I never thought
you were awkward.

Shy, perhaps, but how
does that lead to Perez?

Through Maureen, my stepmother,

who decided to make the
swan out of the ugly duckling.

An intelligent
swan, incidentally,

because one of the things she did was
to get me to enroll in your law courses.

And another, she sent me to
the Vivian Cosgrave Dance Studio,

where Rayo was an instructor.

You can guess the rest.

How long were you
mixed up with Perez?

Not long.

I quickly realized all he
wanted from me was my money

It's over here.

Odd neighborhood
for an apartment.

Rayo owns... I mean owned
part of this building, or so he said.

The apartment stairs
are back of that doorway.

Is this the door the
person was pounding on?

Yes.

Whoever it was, I
suppose, heard us fighting.

We knocked over a lamp,

and Rayo in falling knocked
over the coffee table.

Rayo was lying here, by
the overturned coffee table.

And the poker was here
where I... I dropped it.

I was here, and it
happened. It did happen.

I still can't understand it.
The place was a shambles.

Janice, what happened
is what I've been saying.

Perez recovered consciousness
after you left and tidied up a bit.

As simple as that.

Do you really believe that?

What else could I believe?

Well, you could believe

that I'm a psychotic spinster
making a desperate bid for attention.

Not a chance.

Besides, if you'd wanted attention
from me, a smile would have done the job.

Now, if you have any more
trouble with Perez, let me know.

I will.

Oh. Professor.

Yes.

Thanks for being even
nicer than I thought.

♪♪

How's that, amiga?
The jackpot, no?

Mucho gold now from
the so-rich Norland family.

Caviar, tequila,
and new costumes

for the soon-to-be celebrated
dance team of Perez and Cosgrave.

Cosgrave and Perez, if we ever
become a dance team, which I doubt.

How can you doubt
after the so heroic...

And painful sacrifice I
just made for our future?

I thought you said your
head was barely grazed.

Ha! You should be barely grazed
by an iron poker sometime, chiquita.

But I'm not complaining.

What's a headache to $10,000?

Ah, such presence of mind to pose
for my photograph while unconscious.

Ah, don't you admire that?

Yes, I'd admire that if I really
believed she had $10,000.

Oh, she has more, much more.

But a careful review of
her finances convinces me

that is a sum she can get
hold of quickly and easily.

How do you plan on getting
hold of it quickly and easily?

Through the expenditure
of exactly 26 cents.

- 26 cents?
- Mm-hmm.

Postage for a small envelope

and the remainder for
a telephone call or two.

That's cheap enough, no?

Hmm. Sounds a little too cheap.

I'll explain.

Into the envelope goes a copy...

Hello. Anybody here?

- Who's that?
- I don't know, but you take this.

Come on. Start dancing.

Come on. 1, 2, 1, 2, 3.

- 1, 2, 1, 2, 3.
- I beg your pardon

1, 2... Can you come back
tomorrow night, please?

This is my last lesson tonight.

I'm not here for lessons.

1, 2... Well, you're
interrupting one.

1, 2, 1, 2, 3. That's it.

You just keep working on that
same basic step, and I'll be right back.

Well? What do you want?

I'm looking for Mr. Rayo Perez.

Don't tell me. Your wife is one
of Rayo's too-satisfied customers.

No. Nothing like that. I merely
want a word or two with him.

You're out of luck. He
never showed up tonight.

Did something happen to him?

With Rayo, it always
happens to the other person.

He's trouble in capital letters.

- Will he be here tomorrow?
- If I don't fire him first.

You're Vivian Cosgrave, then?

Yes, that's right.

When you see him,
would you give him this

and tell him I'm very anxious
to get in touch with him?

After I tell him a thing or two.

Not the law, I hope.

No. A professor
from the university.

Arrive Tulsa at 11:50.

Lunch with the directors of
the Petroleum Club at 12:30.

3:00, my people at the refinery.

Dinner with Seth Grundy
and the imperial crowd at 7.

My people again
at 10 next morning,

and then the 3:35 plane
back, arriving 6:10 p.m.

Darwin, sometimes I wonder if
your father wasn't a Prussian general

married to a Swiss timepiece.

I'm sorry, Maureen, dear.

Forty years of regulating peoples' lives
has formed a habit difficult to break.

But I have been doing
better lately, though, haven't I?

Much, much better, darling.

And, besides, I really
don't care much anymore,

now that I know that
under that granite exterior

lies a very kind and
generous human being.

The fact that the human being
exists at all is entirely due to you.

I must go.

- Good morning.
- Well, Janice.

I was afraid I wasn't going
to get to say goodbye to you.

You... You're eleven
minutes late for breakfast.

Darwin.

Merely an observation,
darling, not a reprimand.

Bye, Janice.

Bye, Father.

You meeting me tomorrow?

International Airport, 6:10 p.m.

And I won't say one
word if you're an hour late.

Bye, darling.

Bye.

And that's the father I've
been terrified of most of my life.

I was terrified, too, once.

Remember?

There's some mail for you.

I'll pour you some coffee.

I thought we might go shopping today, if
you don't have too much studying to do.

I haven't.

I saw the handsomest
wool suit at Purcell's today.

It's the yummiest shade of blue,

and it just cried out for
somebody with your coloring.

I called them, and they have it in
your size, so I thought we might...

What's the matter, Janice?

Are you ill?

May I get you something?

No. It's just a a dizzy spell.

Some coffee will help.

Telephone, Miss Janice.

Yes?

You thought he had cleaned
up and left, didn't you?

But you're still on the
hook, Miss Norland.

He did leave, to go to a doctor,

but he died on the way.

Oh, no.

But why hasn't it been reported?

And what am I to do?

Yes, I can

Hold on a minute. I'd
like to use another phone.

Do you mind, Maureen?
It's rather personal.

I don't mind at all.

Come in.

Professor, there's a woman
here who wants to speak to you...

A Mrs. Norland.

Mrs. Norland?

I hope I'm not
interrupting something.

No, not at all.

I had to talk to you.

It's about Janice.

She's in some kind
of trouble, isn't she?

- She told you?
- No.

But two very strange things
happened this morning.

This morning?

In her mail was an envelope
containing a photograph.

What the photograph
was, I don't know.

But whatever it was
scared her half to death.

And on top of that
came a phone call...

Something about... About
the photograph, I'm sure.

But also something about
going back somewhere last night

to check on something
that wasn't reported.

Could it be something that
wasn't reported to the police?

What did Janice say?

I don't want to play the role
of the meddling stepmother,

so I decided to let you tell me.

You were with her
last night, weren't you?

Yes, I was with her last night.

And I think I do know
something about this.

But I'm not personally involved
with her, if that's what you're thinking.

I was in hopes you were.

Me?

Why do you think I pushed
Janice into studying law with you?

Tell me, this trouble,

does it involve a man by
the name of Rayo Perez?

He's a dance instructor that
Janice used to bring to the house.

I'm not sure I can
talk to you about this.

Why not?

Janice came to me last
night for help... Legal help.

I'm not sure I can repeat
what she told me in confidence

without her permission.

I'm not sure I want her to
know that I came to you.

I was hoping we...

Or at least you...
could help her.

It's blackmail, isn't it?

If it is, it's water much too deep
and muddy for a law professor.

Then you won't help?

Of course I'll help.

I'm very fond of Janice,

and I owe you
more than I can say.

I'll help, but I'll
need help, too.

Professor, I'm afraid you've been
behind those ivy-covered walls too long.

I've never run into anything
quite like this before.

Any detective can tell you
that this is one of the oldest

and most easily broken
up routines in the book...

the fake injury racket.

Yes?

Professor Lindley, it's
Mr. Mason from the hospital.

Thank you.

Mr. Mason, if I'd known you were
ill, I wouldn't have told your secretary

I'm happy you did,

if only as proof that the parrot-jackass
part of the legal profession has its uses.

I hear lots of
things, Professor.

No, no, I enjoyed
your description.

Now about this blackmail thing.

Well, I realize I shouldn't
have got so upset about it.

Yes, I quite agree
with you. I'll do that.

Many thanks.

Mr. Mason says I should
turn Perez over to you.

It's easy.

All I have to do is check up on
his past, which I guarantee is shady,

and use what I find as a
lever to get him to lay off.

Can you do this without any
notoriety for Janice Norland?

Mm-hmm.

I suppose I should get
in touch with her first

to authorize my retaining you.

Professor, I'm not trying to push
this, but waiting could be disastrous.

I realize that.

All right, Mr. Drake.

You go ahead. Good hunting.

Well, Mr. Dias, it looks like
it's set to rain all night, huh?

Who knows, Señor Hawes?

Who knows and who cares?

Oh!

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Janice, are you awake?

Professor Lindley would
like to speak with you.

Janice?

When she wakes, would you have her call
me at Mr. Mason's office, Mrs. Norland?

Oh, by the way, did she
get the note I left last night

telling her what
Mr. Drake was doing?

Oh, I see.

When she came home.

Mr. Drake? Yes, he
just this minute came in.

Yes, I'll let you know.

Janice came home at 11:00 last night,
read my note, and went straight to bed.

It's odd she didn't call me. I suppose
she thought there wasn't any reason to.

How did you make out, Mr. Drake?

It was easy.

Perez has two convictions on his
record, both for shake-down attempts.

Here's a copy of his mug-shot.

This is the man I saw
in the dance studio.

Miss Cosgrave was
pretending to give him a lesson.

Which means she's
probably up to her neck in this.

One thing, though, Professor,

if you saw Perez after Miss Norland
told you about having a fight with him,

she can't have given him
much of a belt with that poker.

- You haven't talked with him, then?
- No, but just as good as.

I dropped a warning word
at each of his favorite haunts,

and this morning I assigned a
couple of men to run him down.

Yes, Gertie?

- It's for you, Paul.
- Hmm.

Yeah?

You've located Perez?

Good work, Connors.
What did I tell you?

Oh.

No.

No, I'll take over
from here. Thanks.

They found Perez about
an hour ago in his apartment.

According to the police,
he was killed with a poker.

That's where he was lying,
and here's where the poker was.

I never realized that
visits to murder scenes

were part of a law school
curriculum, Professor.

Could it be that you have something
more than an academic interest in this?

Well, I can't force
you to answer,

and I don't know as I mind
conducting a guided tour.

Andy, before we get
started, who found the body?

Fellow who runs the
tobacco shop downstairs,

one Pedro Dias.

Claims to be a cousin of Perez.

Do you know how long
Perez had been dead?

Eight to ten hours, according to a
quick guess by the coroner's man.

We'll know better
after the autopsy.

You're sure he said
eight to ten hours?

You know something that would
suggest different, Professor?

No, no.

You don't sound too certain.

Well, let's take the tour.

First, the furniture, which makes
it look like Perez put up a fight

before he was killed.

Next... this gadget

What's that for?

I'll show you.

About as neat a one-man blackmail
operation as ever I've bumped into.

Focused through this peephole

and operated by a five-second
delay shutter mechanism,

like the kind you put on
cameras so you could focus, click,

and still get out in front in
time to take your own picture.

What was the
purpose of all this?

Think we should tell the
professor the facts of life, Paul?

Suppose you want to take
a picture of a certain lady

in, well, let's say a
compromising situation.

You reach under
the coffee table,

pretending to put out a
cigarette or something,

and flick the hidden switch,
which in turn activates this one,

giving you five seconds to get
into that compromising situation.

Very handy set-up, because it
doesn't require a second party

to operate the camera
or to split the proceeds.

That's about all for now,

pending lab tests of the
poker and the fingerprint returns

What do you make
of those, Professor?

Blood?

Hmm.

About the right shade of red, but it
hasn't matted the way blood would.

I'll run some tests
on it later, though.

Could they be footprints?

Red and 5 feet apart.

Not unless they were
left by a Martian 9 feet tall.

Janice?

May I come in?

Aren't you even coming
down for lunch, dear?

Perhaps you'd like
something sent up.

Don't bother.

What about Professor
Lindley's telephone call?

He said it was very important.

Very important. To whom?

What do you mean
by that, Janice?

Nothing, I guess.

What's this?

Just something I
decided to get rid of.

Fire purifies, don't
you agree, Maureen?

I don't know what you're
talking about, Janice.

Has something happened,
something new that's upset you?

Oh, please, leave
me alone, won't you?

Janice... Janice, dear...

Leave me alone.

Mr. Dias?

Sí.

I understand you're the
one who found Perez.

Sí.

How did you happen to be up
in his apartment this morning?

Not very friendly with
strangers, Dias isn't.

And he's not very friendly about
extending credit to his neighbors.

I was wondering if one of you
gentlemen might spare a cigarette, please.

- Sure.
- Oh, my brand.

Thank you very much.

As for our taciturn amigo there,
he visited Perez quite often,

being his cousin and joint owner
of the building here and all that.

And were you a frequent
visitor, too, Mister?

Hawes. Sidney Hawes.

Oh, no.

I was never invited
upstairs, as I told the police.

- You spoke to them, then?
- Oh, yes.

Mostly about a lady who called
on Perez around 10:30 last night.

Dark-haired, well-dressed,

not pretty, but classy,
nice-looking, you know?

She was the same lady who called
on him the previous night with a...

A gentleman who looks
very much like you, sir.

You're positive it
was the same lady?

Oh, yes, yes. I got a
good look at her both times,

and so did Dias.

Does either of you
know who the lady is?

Well, now, we don't
travel in the social set, sir.

I'd know this lady if I ever saw
her again, you can bet on that.

Well, thanks a lot.

It's okay, gentlemen. Any time.

Professor, I'd say your
client's in big trouble.

- Hadn't you better talk to her?
- Yes, I had.

And in the meantime, I'll try and
shake something beside a rumba

out of a certain
lady dance teacher.

Now. Come on. Let's
try it again. Come on.

I think I'll wait till tomorrow, Vivian,
until after I consult a chiropractor.

All right. Anything
you say, Pops.

Oh.

- You Vivian Cosgrave?
- Yeah, that's right.

I got one of your ads with
the coupon for a free lesson.

Here I am, ready to go.

Mister, we are booked
days in advance.

You can't expect
to just pop up and...

Wait a minute.

A guy with your looks, I'm sure, has
had free dancing lessons all his life.

- So what's the pitch?
- Rayo Perez.

Oh, I am sick of Rayo Perez.

He's still your partner, isn't
he, in a shake-down racket?

Beat it, Mister.

If I do, I'll take you along
to police headquarters.

Have you checked
with the law on that?

What do you mean?

Two of them were here no
more than ten minutes ago,

and nobody said anything
about taking anybody anywhere.

Didn't they tell you that
Rayo had implicated you?

Oh, come off it. Who
are you trying to kid?

Look, Rayo is dead.

But I'll tell you exactly
what I told the police.

I don't know anything
about his racket.

I don't know who
killed him. I didn't.

I didn't have any reason to.

But if you're looking
for someone who did,

why don't you look up a rich
dame named Janice Norland?

I can't understand this
change in your attitude, Janice.

Two nights ago
you wanted my help.

I don't need any help now.

You do if you were in
Perez' apartment last night.

What is it?

Why are you acting like this?

Were you there last night?

Excuse me. I have
some things I must do.

Miss Janice, the phone
for Professor Lindley.

Hello.

Yeah.

The police?

For what?

All right. Yes, keep on.

That was Drake.

Vivian Cosgrave has given your
name to the police as a possible suspect.

They'll be around
here to talk to you.

Janice.

I want you to tell me everything
that happened yesterday,

starting with the
photograph you received.

You know about that?

Oh, yes. From
Maureen, of course.

What was the photograph of?

Of me, standing over
Rayo and the poker.

And the phone call,
what was that about?

An elderly voice told me

that a copy of that photograph
would be sent to the police

unless I paid $10,000.

Was it explained how you could be expected
to pay when Rayo was still alive then?

But I was told that
Rayo was dead.

That this person, man or
woman, whoever it was,

had come into the apartment,

had found Rayo just coming to
from the blow that I'd struck him.

Together they
cleaned the apartment,

and then, because
Rayo's head got worse,

they started for the
doctor in Rayo's car.

And on the way, he died.

What happened then?

Rayo and his car were driven
into the ocean near Malibu

so that the police would
think it was an accident,

provided they never
saw the photograph.

And you believed all that?

No, not really.

But I decided to put an
end to the mess I was in...

to pay the money anyway.

And you did?

I was told to bring it to Rayo's
apartment between 10 and 11 last night.

The photograph, too, so it
could be destroyed with the copy.

Well, when I got
there, I let myself in.

The only person
waiting for me was Rayo.

I... I mean Rayo's body.

Why didn't you call
me or the police?

I was frightened.

I just got in the car and came
home and went to... Maureen.

There's a Lieutenant Anderson
here to see you, Janice,

along with some other people.

Will you tell them
she's indisposed?

I'm afraid that
won't do, Professor.

Well, how about it?

- Sí.
- Yeah, that's her, all right.

All right. Thanks.

Miss Norland, I'm going to have to
take you down to police headquarters.

Just a minute, Lieutenant.

- On what charge?
- Suspicion of murder.

Based on the fact that those two
men thought they saw her last night?

Oh, I have more,
quite a bit more.

Enough, in fact, to justify a
charge of first degree murder.

You see, before coming in here,
we took a look at Miss Norland's car,

and in the glove
compartment we found, uh...

some money and a photograph.

Isn't often we get a picture of a
crime actually being committed.

Hi, beautiful.

Hi, Paul.

Who's been drinking
all the coffee?

Professor Lindley.

Poor man spent the night
boning up on Rules of Evidence,

California Criminal Jurisprudence,
and heaven knows what all.

Where is he now?

He decided to talk to Janice
again before going into court.

She hasn't been exactly
cooperative, you know.

It too bad Perry can't be here.

Burger is going to make
mincemeat out of Janice's story

that the photograph was taken
the night before the murder.

You don't think it was?

Yes, Gertie?

Have her come in.

Mrs. Norland.

Professor Lindley's
already left?

Yes, he has.

Will you be seeing him
in court, Miss Street?

That's right. Is there
something I can tell him for you?

Yes, please.

Something I've been
tormenting myself with for days,

wondering whether it
would help Janice or not.

You see, I'm the one
Perez was blackmailing.

You?

And I'm the one who hit
him with the fireplace poker

the night before
he was murdered.

Maureen says that Janice
somehow discovered

she was having
trouble with Perez,

so, instead of going
to class that night,

Janice followed Maureen
to Perez' apartment.

She heard the fighting
inside and ran in

to find Mrs. Norland gone and
Perez presumably dead on the floor.

So she made up that cock-and-bull
story about Perez blackmailing her.

Why would she do that?

To protect Maureen.

It seems that when Perez
was visiting the Norland home,

he managed to lift a locket
belonging to Mrs. Norland.

A locket?

A gift from a man Mrs. Norland
was secretly involved with a year ago

in Lower California in a
town called Puerto Verde.

With an inscription
or something inside

which would mean the end of her
marriage if her husband ever saw it.

And now Mrs. Norland
wants to testify to all this?

She said that's up
to you to decide.

Professor, whatever
you do decide,

there's one angle here
that has to be investigated.

What's that?

Well, Mrs. Norland won't say who
the man with her in Puerto Verde was,

but it's something we
should find out, shouldn't we?

Well, after all, he might have
killed Perez to protect himself.

Now you're reaching, Mr. Drake.

You don't want
me to go after him?

No. No, I don't.

Doctor, the autopsy determined
that the deceased died

as a result of a blow
to the base of his skull?

- Is that correct?
- Correct.

Did the autopsy reveal anything as
to the nature of the murder weapon?

Yes, it was a rodlike metallic object
about the thickness of my little finger.

A fireplace poker, perhaps?

Objection, Your Honor.

The District Attorney
is leading the witness.

I'll be most happy to withdraw
the question, Professor,

and rephrase it.

Doctor, in your long experience
as a coroner's physician,

have you ever encountered wounds

similar to the one suffered
by the deceased in this case?

Yes, three or four times.

And on each occasion,
what caused it?

A blow from a fireplace poker.

Thank you, Doctor.

Your turn, Professor.

What?

Uh, no questions.

I show you now this
fireplace poker, Lieutenant.

Will you identify it for us?

I can. This is my mark there.

It's the poker found
lying beside the body.

If it please the court,

the state would like this
poker entered in evidence

and marked for
the people Exhibit 3.

Very well. So
ordered, Mr. Burger.

Now, Lieutenant, referring
back to People's Exhibit 2,

this camera, which you
found attached to a peephole

in the decedent's living room,

aside from that, was there
anything unusual about it?

Yes. A remote control
attachment with a switch

under the coffee
table in the living room,

which in turn activated a
five-second delay switch on the shutter.

Thus enabling Perez to record
events in his living room surreptitiously

and without the help of
an accomplice, is that right?

Yes.

Lieutenant, could this device
be activated by accident?

For instance, the coffee
table overturning, for example?

Yes, quite easily.

Didn't you express
to me earlier the belief

that the falling body of the deceased
did, in fact, overturn that coffee table?

I did.

And if the camera had
been loaded at that time,

it would have photographed the
scene five seconds later, wouldn't it?

That's right.

Perhaps even catching the killer
still standing over the dead body.

Objection, Your Honor.

The question calls for an answer based
on the completely unproven hypothesis

that the camera was loaded.

Do you intend to tie
this in later, Mr. Burger?

I intend to tie it in
right now, Your Honor.

Then the witness may answer.

Yes, it could have
caught the killer that way.

And in fact did,
didn't it, Lieutenant?

I am, of course, referring
to this photograph,

which you found
where, Lieutenant?

In the glove compartment
of the defendant's car.

And would you tell us, please,
what that photograph shows?

The defendant standing
over Perez' body.

In fact, then, Lieutenant,

you don't know if this photograph
was made on the night of the murder

or the night before or a
week or a month before?

Let's just say that I know,
but I can't prove it right now.

Very well. Let's just say that.

Now, Lieutenant, in your description
of what you found in Perez' apartment,

you omitted
something, didn't you?

You mean that trail of
red splotches on the rug?

Were you able to determine what
they were or how they were made?

The lab tests showed they were
a cheap aniline dye of some sort.

As to how they were made red
and 5 feet apart, I have no idea.

You expressed an opinion on the morning
of the body's discovery, Lieutenant.

What was that opinion?

Look, I was... I
was only kidding.

Would you answer
the question, please?

Well, I said I said if
they were footprints...

they were made by
a Martian 9 feet tall.

A Martian 9 feet tall.

That's all, Lieutenant.

Don't tell me you're
planning to call

a surprise extra-terrestrial
witness, Professor?

I might just do
that, Mr. Burger.

Yes, we made laboratory tests

of the blood and the
hair adhering to the poker.

The blood was AB, the same
type as that of the deceased.

What about the hair?

It corresponded exactly
in color, length, texture,

and other characteristics
with hair samples

taken from the deceased's
head adjacent to the fatal wound.

Finally managed to develop one
latent print on the poker's handle.

Were you able to identify it?

Yes, as that of the
defendant, Janice Norland.

And this particular
key, Sergeant,

that you found in the defendant's
purse when she was brought in,

did you find out what it fits?

Yes, sir. The lock on the front
door of the Rayo Perez apartment.

Sí. She come to my
cousin's apartment that night.

By that night, you mean the
night of the murder, Mr. Dias?

Sí.

Sure, it was raining, but I saw
her as plain as I see you now.

She went up to the apartment just
about the time they say Perez died.

It was 10:30, or a
minute or two after.

Well, all I know is Rayo kept
boasting about Janice Norland.

He kept saying no matter how hard
she struggled, that he had her hooked.

Well, I thought he was
talking about marriage.

I didn't know anything
about his blackmail racket.

Yes, I did lend Perez money
on two different occasions.

A hundred dollars one time and
300, I think it was, the second.

Did you do this because you thought he
was threatening your daughter, Mr. Norland?

If I'd thought he was doing
that, I'd have broken his neck.

No, it was to get rid of him.

I thought if he owed me money, he'd stop
coming to the house, stop seeing Janice.

And finally, Mrs. Norland, did
you have any reason to suspect

that Rayo Perez was
blackmailing your stepdaughter?

No.

She never discussed it with
you, she never asked you for help?

No.

Thank you very much,
Mrs. Norland. That'll be all.

Your witness, Professor.

I have no questions,
Mrs. Norland.

Nacho, el señor.

This is the owner of the
hotel, Señor Juan Perez.

Buenas tardes, señor.

Perez?
- Sí, Señor.

I can offer you a choice
of a bungalow or a room.

By any chance, are you related
to a Rayo Perez in Los Angeles?

Rayo?

We are distant cousins,
a fact I'm not proud of.

I suppose you want the same
information I give to the señor last week

who also knew Rayo.

The señor last week?

Sí. Señor Norland.

He wished the name of
a man who stayed here

who was such a close friend of
Señor Norland's beautiful wife.

Is that not what
you come to find?

I've already found more than I expected,
but yes, that's what I came to find.

The man who was here at the
same time with Mrs. Norland,

his name was...

Edward Lindley.

Edward Lindley?

It's an awkward
spot to be in, Paul.

If you tell Burger, you'll be
selling out Professor Lindley,

and if you don't, you may
be selling out Janice Norland.

Perry...

what do you think I ought to do?

My advice is to go
to Lindley and tell him.

After his failure to
cross-examine Mrs. Norland?

I'm quite certain he
didn't cross-examine her

for the simple reason that he
couldn't see how it would help Janice.

Now, are you certain that the man asking
questions in Puerto Verde was Mr. Norland?

- Yes, I am.
- Then there's nothing else to do.

You have to tell Lindley.

Well, Professor,
it's up to you now.

Your Honor, the defense
has come into possession

of certain new facts
pertinent to this case.

With the court's
permission, we would like

to recall one of the
prosecution witnesses.

Very well, Mr. Lindley.

Mrs. Norland, would you
take the stand again, please?

You say that Rayo Perez had
been blackmailing you, Mrs. Norland?

Yes, over a locket he'd taken
from my dressing room table.

And on the night before he was killed,
you went to see him about this locket?

To give him some money for it.

After I'd given him the money,
he refused to give the locket back,

so I tried to get it back.

We struggled, he
knocked me down,

and then I did a dreadful thing.

I hit him with the
fireplace poker,

took the money, and ran.

This locket, Mrs. Norland,
where did it come from originally?

It was given to me by a
man I met in Puerto Verde,

and inside was a photograph
of the two of us together.

Will you tell the court exactly
what happened in Puerto Verde?

I went there a little
over a year ago

to try to think out some problems
I was having with Mr. Norland.

Our relationship at that time,
though I loved him dearly,

was more of autocratic
schoolteacher and backward pupil

than husband and wife.

And at the same hotel...

there was a man in even
deeper trouble than I was.

His wife had died, and
he'd gone to pieces,

well on his way to
becoming a derelict.

And so?

In Puerto Verde, I
made another friend...

The village priest.

And together we
tried to help him.

And succeeded?

Yes. I think so.

And somehow, in helping
him, I was able to help myself.

I found the strength to come
home and resolve own my problem,

which turned out not
to be a problem at all.

Did your relationship with this man
ever go beyond the point you've told us?

Do you mean were we
ever romantically involved?

Oh, no.

I was in love with my husband...

and he with the
memory of his wife.

That would have been a
betrayal on both our parts.

Now one last
question, Mrs. Norland.

Who was the man?

Must I answer that?

Well, he was...

Was you...

Edward Lindley.

Thank you, Mrs. Norland.

Mr. Burger?

Your Honor, could the
Prosecution have a few moments

to evaluate this rather
astonishing testimony?

Yes, of course, Mr. Burger.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

You see, I found the photo that had
been in the locket in Rayo's apartment

after he was dead,

and I thought that you and
Maureen were responsible.

Janice, why did you lie
to me about hitting Rayo

- that first night when you came to me?
- To protect Father.

Maureen killing Perez, as I
thought she had that night,

to conceal what he was
blackmailing her about,

all that coming out would have
completely destroyed Father.

And you thought she would simply
keep quiet and let you take the blame?

I hoped I could persuade
her, for Father's sake.

After all, I could
plead self-defense.

Then we couldn't
find a body, could we?

Unfortunately, one
was found later.

Janice, did you kill Rayo
Perez that second night?

No.

All right.

- Mr. Drake.
- Yes?

I want you to get me a pan of water
and a pair of second-hand shoes.

All right. What size?

Big enough to fit a
Martian 9 feet tall.

A Martian 9 feet tall.

That's right.

Twice, in a veiled way,
Perez mentioned the locket,

hinting there was something in it I
might find worth paying for to see.

I knew Maureen had brought it back
from Puerto Verde, so I flew there.

And found out about
your wife and me?

Yes.

And I concluded that Perez
was probably working on her, too.

So you went to see
him that night he died?

I happen to know you were in Los
Angeles then, Mr. Norland, not in Tulsa.

I went to his apartment
about 10:15, I think,

and tried to force him
to give me the locket.

Overturning some of the
furniture in the process?

Yes, quite a bit of it.

He finally convinced me he
didn't have the locket there,

so I gave him until
morning to get it and left.

Did you notice a trail of reddish
splotches on the white rug,

- each about 5 feet apart?
- No.

No, there was
nothing on the rug.

One more question, Mr. Norland.

Before you left, did
you kill Rayo Perez?

I only wish I had.

Then my wife and daughter
wouldn't be in all this mess.

Lieutenant, I want you to
examine this photograph

of Miss Norland
standing over Perez again.

Are Perez' body and the
overturned coffee table

in the exact positions
you found them?

No, not quite.

Perez' head is turned
to the other side,

and the coffee table
is closer to the couch.

How do you account for that,

if that really is actually
a photograph taken

just five seconds
after Perez was killed?

The killer must have moved
both the body and the coffee table

while searching for something.

But if that is the murder scene,
where are the red splotches on the rug?

They must have
been put in later.

Isn't it more likely that photograph
was taken earlier, Lieutenant?

The night Perez was
struck down by Mrs. Norland

and then discovered
by Janice Norland?

We know Miss Norland was in
his apartment the night he did die,

so what difference does it make?

Quite a bit.

If the camera switch was operated
by the coffee table being overturned,

then the delayed action shutter would
snap the picture just five seconds later.

That's not nearly enough delay for
Janice Norland to enter the apartment,

cross from the door,
and stand over the body.

That photograph was taken
by someone else, Lieutenant,

someone who was
Perez' accomplice.

Wait a minute! If you're
talking about me, you're wrong!

I was never in Rayo's
apartment either night.

Miss Cosgrave, take your place.

Otherwise, I'll have you
removed from the courtroom.

Your Honor, mention has been
made to a Martian 9 feet tall.

I believe I can explain, and in so doing
uncover Perez' accomplice and killer,

if the court will allow an
experiment with Mr. Drake.

Go right ahead, Mr. Lindley.

The streets and sidewalks were
soaking wet with rain that night.

Mr. Drake.

The killer came into the
apartment the back way

and into the camera room.

From there, in order to
tiptoe up on Perez noiselessly,

he removed off his wet shoes.

But when he was tiptoeing,
he unwittingly left a trail.

One of his shoes was so worn

that the cheap maroon sock on
that foot had become soaking wet.

Thus when he removed the shoes,
that one wet sock left a red splotch

every time it came into
contact with the white rug.

Intervals of
approximately 5 feet,

since the other sock,
being dry, left no trace.

The strange Martian tracks
we've been talking about.

Mr. Hawes, would you
please come forward?

Mr. Hawes, if I gave you a kitchen
match, how would you strike it?

A match?

Oh, uh...

All right.

But Perez had it coming to him.

Him always promising,
always promising.

He never paid me one cent for
all those pictures I copied for him,

not even the one I snapped
of the girl standing over him.

When I sneaked up there that night
and heard a big man like Mr. Norland

making all that fuss about
that locket, fighting him for it,

I figured that locket was worth
a fortune, and I was entitled to it.

When Mr. Norland left
and Perez went to take it out

from the couch where
he'd hidden the thing,

I took it away from him.

Y-You want a laugh?

Look at it.

Look at that.

A cheap, crummy hunk of junk

you could buy for a buck in
any Mexican store in town.

Perez stole that locket from
the Norland house, is that right?

And, being from
Puerto Verde originally,

Perez recognized the
church in the locket photo

and did some checking.

I'm surprised he didn't also try to
squeeze money out of Professor Lindley.

I imagine he thought a law professor
was hardly worth bothering with, Mr. Mason.

Well, he had enough
going for him anyway...

Mr. Norland, Mrs. Norland,
and eventually Janice.

You mean he thought he had.

Professor, do you still
believe the perfect trial lawyer

is a cross between a
parrot and a jackass?

No, Mr. Mason. I now
believe the perfect trial lawyer

needs the eye of an eagle, the
heart of a lion and a lot of help.

My sentiments exactly.