Original subtitles

♪♪

Mr. Gordon...

Well, don't stand there mumbling. Speak up.

What do you want?

It's time for your medication.

I don't want it.

I'm sorry, Mr. Gordon,

but Doctor Lambert insists you must have it.

Addlepated jackass!

My orders are to give you this medication.

No.

Please, Mr. Gordon.

No, no, - no, no, no!

Mr. Gordon!

Didn't you hear me? I said...

Mr. Gordon.

The third time it's happened.

Tonight I thought he was really going.

He's too full of hate. Even death despises him.

You'd, uh... better increase the heparin

I ordered to one c.c. every night.

Yes, Doctor Lambert.

I'll look in on Rachel before I leave.

Now you call me if you need me.

Good night, Doctor.

Good night, Miss Clover.

It's all right, Sadie.

- He's gonna be all right. - Oh.

Where's Miss Gordon?

She's in her room.

Doctor Lambert...

could you help her, please.

She's, she's so nervous and upset. I...

just can't stand to see what's happening to her.

You're playing hopscotch

with one foot over the precipice, Rachel.

Ease off before you yourself have a stroke.

How's Uncle Abner?

He'll live.

Wouldn't you know.

You were hoping I'd say this was the end?

That upsets you, doesn't it?

Makes you sick.

Tell me, Doctor,

how old do you think I look?

You want me to say 40 or 45, I suppose.

In a month I'll be 35.

15 years of my life.

Like someone in jail.

Looking after him, waiting for him to die.

There's never been a lock on the front door.

Oh, sure. Walk out.

Let him cut me off, his own flesh and blood.

His only flesh and blood.

But staying here, you've become nothing but raw nerves

and twisted emotions.

How much is it worth to be a sick, empty creature

drained of every drop of the joy of life. How much?

One million dollars, Doctor. My legacy.

Abner had a mild stroke, the third one this month.

He could live on like this for years, Rachel, for years.

No, not for years.

I won't let him.

I'll kill him first.

♪♪

Who is it?

What's going on?

It's just me, Bruce. Never mind

Rachel? You all right?

Yes. I just dropped something, that's all.

It's all right, Bruce.

Well, there's no question of it.

Footprints in the flower bed.

Marks around the lock.

Well, somebody tried to break in here all right.

Whoever it was, uh,

do you think he'll try again?

Sort of depends on how badly he wants

what he thinks he didn't get.

Now, this is the, uh, Abner Gordon home...

and you're Charles Norman, the butler, right?

Butler, gardener, chauffeur.

And my wife, Sadie, is the housekeeper.

Who else lives in?

Well, aside from Mr. Gordon,

there's his niece, Miss Rachel Gordon,

and a Mr. Bruce Jay...

a kind of a secretary,

and Mr. Gordon's nurse, Miss Phyllis Clover.

Hmm. I see.

Do you have a gun?

A gun?

Good heavens, no.

Who runs the place? This Miss Gordon?

If she's in, I'd like to have a talk with her.

Certainly. Go right ahead.

I cannot go on feeling sorry for you, and shut my eyes

to what you're doing.

I am not blind.

I am not stupid,

and this account book speaks for itself.

Harlan, please understand, I need your help.

You can shake that thought right out of your mind, Rachel.

As your uncle's accountant, I will not be put in the middle.

Absolutely not.

Excuse me, Miss Gordon.

About the marks on the side door this morning,

the police officer would like to speak to you.

Some other time. Tell him I'll call him.

He's right here, waiting to...

I said not now. Get out.

Certainly, ma'am.

Harlan, you've known me such a long time.

It isn't as if I'd actually stolen the money.

Oh, isn't it?

Or perhaps your dictionary has a different moral evaluation

for embezzlement.

Mine tends to define it in the same terms

as the California Code.

The penal code.

I, uh, I'm sorry, Rachel.

What for?

For snooping on me? For calling Abner's accountant

and telling him I was stealing from my uncle?

I... He found the discrepancy himself.

Look, if it's the last thing I do,

I'm going to have you thrown out of this house for good.

Please, Rachel.

Phyllis, did Mr. Farrell leave by the front door

or the side door?

I just passed him going up the stairs.

He said he had to see Mr. Gordon.

No, no, I'm all right.

I thought you were having trouble breathing again.

No, no, it's just Rachel... and this house.

You really think, if you stay on,

it'll make things easier for her? For Mr. Gordon?

Let's put it another way...

if I go, will it make things harder for them?

I don't think anybody, or anything, will help Rachel.

But it's different for you now, darling. You're well again.

You've got your life ahead of you.

Our life.

Today is Thursday.

By Monday, by 5:00 in the afternoon of Monday,

you will make full restitution of every last dollar

you've drained out of my funds for that no good parasite

you're supporting.

No!

Didn't think I knew

about your little boyfriend, did you?

Please, Uncle Abner... By 5:00 Monday.

Do I have to tell you what the alternative is?

Sounds like an unhappy household.

But tell me, Mr. Jay,

how are you affected by actions Abner Gordon

may take against his niece?

Well, it's a matter of some money.

You see, I put myself through college

working in a chemical plant Abner Gordon owned.

There was an accident,

some defective old equipment in the factory.

I ended up, more dead than alive, in the hospital.

My, uh, my lungs.

You filed a law suit?

No. There was some sort of mix up with his insurance.

Abner Gordon would have been personally liable.

And you agreed not to sue him?

Well, sort of.

I mean, he was very kind.

He paid my bills.

He brought me to his home, as sort of a librarian/secretary,

to recuperate.

And I've been there ever since, working for him.

You received no compensation at all for your injuries?

He promised me that any time I decided to leave

to go out on my own, he'd give me $50,000.

And now, you've decided to leave?

Well, uh... there's a, there's a girl,

and a business, a bookstore I'm interested in.

But Mr. Mason,

I haven't spoken to Mr. Gordon yet,

and the way things are, maybe I shouldn't right now but...

Oh, yes, I think you should, and soon.

In fact, you have a right to the money.

I just don't want to cause any trouble at a time like this.

Well, I'll be able to handle it for you, without trouble.

Unless, of course, Mr. Gordon has changed his mind.

As you describe it, that money is essentially a gift.

And an offer of a gift, lacking legal consideration,

is revocable at a moment's notice.

Oh, I don't think he'd back down on his promise.

Is there something in writing about this?

Well, I know the $50,000 is provided for in his will.

Good.

That may be all we need to assure payment.

Thank you, Mr. Mason. I guess I've...

well, I've been a little worried about his changing his will.

Is there an indication that he plans to do so?

Well, he's always threatened his niece, Rachel,

that if she ever left him, or got married,

he'd cut her off.

He had another will drawn years ago.

He's always waved it in her face as a warning.

Threatens to substitute it for the actual legal will.

Under these circumstances, the validity of the second will

may be seriously questioned.

Does it disinherit his niece?

It disinherits everybody.

It leaves every cent he has to charity.

Ah, Rachel, baby.

Did you bring the money?

You did bring the money?

Yes, Tracey... Ah, don't worry, honey.

Just add it to the rest I owe you.

And it won't be long now.

He can't hang on forever.

And then, well, maybe...

Tracey, I shouldn't give you any more money.

I mean, the money I've already given you,

I've got to have it back, every cent of it.

You what?

But you know I haven't got it.

Tracey, I can't give you any more.

I stole that money for you.

He's going to send me to jail.

Unless I return every cent by Monday afternoon,

he's going to use the new will.

Tracey, what can I do?

Tell me, what?!

Tracey!

Start praying.

What?

Pray your uncle dies before Monday afternoon.

No.

They can't prosecute you

for stealing from yourself, can they?

Tracey.

Lock up when you leave.

Shall we stop at police headquarters or will you call?

What?

The attempted housebreaking.

The police officer was insistent that he speak to you.

Uh, no. You take the car home.

I have some errands to do.

But it's no trouble.

I said, drive the car home.

I'll take a cab.

Oh, Miss Rachel, you're not well.

And I don't mind driving anywhere you want to go.

I'm certain you'll like this pistol.

It's a truly fine handgun.

And I think you'll see for yourself the amazing advances

in recent years, particularly in relation

to velocity and kinetic energy.

Well, now, let's see.

We have a name, address, phone number,

height, weight, complete description

and the serial number of the gun.

Yes, it's all complete, except for your signature.

You realize, of course, Miss Gordon, that the police provide

for a three-day delay before we're permitted

to deliver any gun to a customer.

It's just a formality.

A matter of record for the police,

really out of our control, you know.

I'm sorry, I've changed my mind.

Ma'am, I'll need your name and address.

Just for the record.

Is it really necessary that there be a record?

♪♪

♪♪

Sadie?

That coffee ready yet?

No, not yet.

Be careful, that handle is loose.

I know the handle's loose.

It's been loose for days,

and you've been promising to fix it for days.

Uh, the coffee's not ready yet, Miss Rachel.

Miss Gordon, you asked us to see you here.

I realize that you're very upset, and I'm sorry,

but you've kept us waiting for over half an hour now,

and it's time for me to give your uncle his medication.

And we mustn't disappoint the great god Abner, must we?

By all means, let nothing interfere

with his creature comforts.

Let him take us all for granted.

Yes, walk all over us, but smile and say,

"Thank you, dear, dear Abner, thank you."

Miss Rachel...

For once, he's got to realize that we count, too,

that we're people.

Rachel, you're not feeling well.

Tomorrow, I want you all to leave this house at noon.

What?

And stay away until Sunday at noon.

But that's impossible.

Now, listen to me.

I'll give him his medication.

I'll see that he's fed, taken care of,

given whatever he has to have.

But nothing more.

He's got to find out that he can't crack the whip

just for the fun of watching us dance.

Rachel, that's absolutely the most...

I'm not asking for opinions or comments,

I'm giving an order!

Tomorrow, Saturday at noon

until Sunday noon, I want to be left alone with him.

And don't you dare tell him anything about this.

Now, please leave me alone.

How is she?

Well, that poor woman is about as close

to a complete breakdown as I've ever seen.

Mr. Gordon ready for bed?

Yes.

And, uh, I didn't tell him about the accident.

I figured there was no sense in upsetting him.

Don't. Just give him the heparin and get him to sleep.

Get some sleep yourself.

Oh, is there anything more I can do for Rachel?

Well, I sedated her pretty heavily.

No choice.

Between hysteria, shock and her begging for relief.

No, no, she'll be all right.

She'll probably sleep the clock around.

♪♪

♪♪

Mr. Mason.

I hope you didn't have to wait too long, sir.

I took Phyllis... Miss Clover the nurse...

Back to her own apartment.

The police had finished questioning her.

You've been reading law, Bruce?

What? Oh, no, no.

Those belong to Mr. Gordon.

He was a graduate attorney, but he never practiced.

He took over his father's business

after he passed the bar.

Mr. Gordon handles...

That is, he used to handle his own legal affairs.

He never retained an attorney.

I just didn't know who else to call but you.

Actually, I was hoping,

possibly, you might represent Miss Rachel Gordon.

Did she ask you to call me?

No.

They haven't let any of us talk to her.

I... I suppose she's under arrest.

That seems logical.

The policeman who told me to wait here for you said

that she fired three times at point-blank range

into Abner Gordon's head and chest.

It's... it's like a... like a bad dream.

Only, in a dream, you keep reassuring yourself

that you're going to wake up.

Bruce, I'm sorry, but I can't represent Miss Gordon.

She's a fine person, Mr. Mason.

Or was.

You've got to understand the pressure she's lived under here.

I can't represent her because I'm already representing you.

But this is murder; it has nothing

to do with her uncle's will.

Yes, it does.

If convicted, she's precluded by law

from inheriting under his will.

Oh.

Well, I didn't... I didn't know that.

I represent you, and you are involved with the decedent.

There would be a conflict of interest.

I'm sorry.

Well, at least until she can retain somebody else.

Would you speak to her?

Tell her what her rights are?

Where is she?

Upstairs in her room.

I think Dr. Lambert's with her.

She wanted us to leave at noon on Saturday...

That's today... and not come back till Sunday at noon,

so that, so that she could be alone with him.

You're sure, Mr. Norman, there's never been a gun in the house?

Well, I-I couldn't swear to it.

There's never been a gun in this house, never.

But, Lieutenant, isn't it possible that when Miss Rachel

called that sergeant, he advised her to go out and buy a gun,

because of the burglar?

He never had a chance to advise her about anything.

She never called.

Well, that'll be all for now.

I'll be speaking to both of you later.

Excuse me.

Sergeant Brice told me you were here, Perry.

Andy.

I suppose you'd like to speak with your client.

Bruce Jay is my client, Andy.

He thought I might be of some temporary assistance

to Miss Gordon until she retains her own counsel.

She's under heavy sedation, unconscious.

I don't think she'll be doing any talking for a while.

Oh, Doctor.

I'm afraid you can't go with her.

Well, that's nonsense; she's ill.

She's been through a terrible experience.

I know.

I saw Abner Gordon's body.

Lieutenant Anderson, she will need medical attention

when she comes to.

She'll get it, in the prison ward of County General Hospital.

Perry, I've just had word from Mr. Burger.

It'll take an okay from the district attorney's office

to see Rachel Gordon, for anybody to see her,

including her attorney.

Excuse me.

How long do you go on tormenting a decent human being?

Pushing her further and further into a corner

with no hope of escape?

I knew she was on the verge, but I just didn't think she...

Unless it was said as a part of a privileged communication

between doctor and patient,

you'll have to repeat it in court, you know.

Repeat what?

The admission you nearly made just now.

Don't be upset.

You weren't the only one in whose presence

Rachel threatened to kill Abner Gordon.

I don't know what hell is like, but it can't be much worse

than the life that Abner restricted her to.

You're saying

the shooting was no drug-inspired

irresistible impulse, but calculated and premeditated?

You're not putting the words

of a possible courtroom defense in my mind,

are you, with this, uh, "irresistible impulse?"

No, Doctor.

I wouldn't do that even if I were Ms. Gordon's attorney.

Oh.

I'm just curious.

Primarily about the effect of the injection you gave her

for the burn last night.

Oh, it relieves pain and anxiety.

How the anxiety, for example?

By removing the inhibitory processes

in the frontal lobe of the brain of the patient.

Oh, I thought so.

Rather like turning off a red light?

If a patient were under tremendous tension,

if she were fighting a compulsion to do something,

the drug would remove her natural reluctance?

Would actually encourage her

to do what she was possibly only planning to do?

If, if, if!

Hello.

She was literally unconscious when she pulled that trigger.

As far as I'm concerned, there isn't one shred of proof

that she ever gave a single thought

to actually killing Abner.

You can say that,

despite her repeated threats against his life?

Either one of you men Mr. Mason?

Yes.

Phone call. Somebody named Drake.

Excuse me, Doctor.

Yes, Paul?

Perry, that dame was sure out to kill somebody.

And Andy's been working real fast on this one.

They found a shopkeeper to whom she paid 200 bucks for the gun,

and his promise not to report her to the police.

Of course I didn't report her to the police... then.

Why should I?

Rachel misappropriated a few thousand dollars.

Well, what's that... The crime of the century?

Hardly.

Oh, I know Abner threatened her

with the police and with that other will,

but after all, he'd been waving that other will

in her face for 15 years.

Do you ever stop to think, the last thing,

the very last thing in the world

Abner Gordon wanted was not to have her around?

Do you ever think of it?

Look, Mr. Farrell, all I really want to know is

what did Rachel Gordon do with the $5,000 she stole?

Gambling? The horses?

Oh, come now, Mr. Drake.

Really? Rachel and race horses?

Well, I never knew the lady.

- Well, I did! - Know her man, too?

Yes, and...

You're sure you just work for an attorney?

You're not a lawyer yourself?

Honest Injun.

- What did you say his name was? - I didn't.

Is there any reason why you can't?

No, I... I guess it's all right.

Walcott. Tracey Walcott.

So, like you say, I'm... I'm unconcerned.

So what?

Not even a sympathetic shrug?

After all, she stole five grand for you.

A loan. Strictly a business loan.

She'll get every cent back.

Before or after?

Before or after what?

They strap her in the gas chamber for murder.

You know, she's still at General Hospital.

And if you asked real nice,

they might let you in to see her.

Sorry. Got a date.

So soon?

Can the new one afford you?

Look, shamus, if you're digging to get my goat,

you're wasting your time.

No, as a matter of fact, I have got a date

with a young lady who's, uh, got quite a bit of money,

and she might promote me in a business of my own.

Mm-hmm.

Say, killing old man Gordon...

Was that Rachel's idea, or yours?

You're a wise guy, aren't you?!

Well, you chew on this!

If you and that shyster you work for think

you can drag me into this, you got another thing coming.

I'll sing. Oh, how I'll sing

on the witness stand, and it won't be a lie, either.

I'll swear that for the last month,

that's all Rachel could-could talk about,

think about, dream about...

Exactly how she was going to kill her uncle!

Now, do you get the picture?

Yeah, I get it.

Oh!

You clumsy... Now what am I gonna do?

Tracey boy, you smell real pretty.

You might just get yourself a whole platoon of promoters.

Is this a true copy of the will?

The original is locked in a safety deposit box at the bank.

But Phyllis and I thought...

well... well, maybe you could help us.

If that will is filed,

doesn't the probate court a-appoint an administrator

or something to take care of everything?

Well, you see, the trouble is,

that Harlan Farrell, the accountant,

simply refuses to become involved.

And Bruce doesn't know what to do, Mr. Mason.

There are bills to be paid, decisions to be made, and...

And a million and one things

that Bruce just doesn't have the authority to do.

Bruce, who knows the provisions of this will?

Who knows?

I suppose everybody knows.

By everybody, you mean those who are named in the will?

Well, I don't...

The will provides for you to receive $50,000, for instance.

You obviously knew that.

Tell me, do Charles and Sadie Norman know

they're to inherit $50,000?

Harlan Farrell, that he's to get $25,000?

Dr. Lambert, also $25,000?

Well, I suppose so.

Mr. Gordon never made a secret of his favors.

Quite the contrary.

He was always talking about them, threatening with them.

The balance goes to Rachel Gordon.

Do you know what that balance might be?

Yes, I do. One and a half million dollars.

I'm sorry to bust in like this, but I thought you'd like to know

that Rachel Gordon was just released from General Hospital.

She was what?!

But Paul, why would...?

I don't know the story yet.

Mr. Mason, that's impossible!

We were just there less than an hour ago,

and they wouldn't even let us talk to Rachel!

Wait a minute, honey.

You mean she's been released on bail?

No, that's also impossible.

There's no bail on a murder charge.

Is that my call, Gertie?

Hi, Joe. What did you find out?

He didn't die from the bullets?

What?

Abner Gordon was stone cold dead

three hours before Rachel pumped those shots into him.

Dead? But how?!

Murdered, that's how.

Mr. Bruce Jay?

I have a warrant here for your arrest

on a charge of criminal homicide.

It was obvious the victim was dead

at least three hours prior to the shooting.

How were you able to determine that, Doctor?

Postmortem lividity, temperature, rigor mortis.

And what was the actual cause of Abner Gordon's death?

Coronary insufficiency,

as a result of a criminal human agency.

Essentially the inability of the heart

to sustain the pressure of continued function.

Doctor, isn't coronary insufficiency a term applicable

to death from natural causes,

as well as to death caused by criminal action?

Yes.

Well, then, would you please explain to this court

what the medical examiner's office found

to make this particular coronary insufficiency

a matter of criminal homicide?

Decedent was in his seventies and suffered a prolonged state

of arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries.

He had a history of prior coronary difficulties,

a series of mild strokes which incapacitated him.

At the time of his death,

as part of his daily medical regimen,

he was being administered

one cubic centimeter of heparin every night.

And what is heparin?

An anti-coagulant to prevent clotting,

thus reducing the possibility of additional strokes.

Thank you, Doctor.

Would you go on, please?

In addition to a minute examination

of the victim's body,

we analyzed the bottle of heparin

from which an injection was given to the victim

less than two hours before his death.

Was there anything unusual

about the bottle of heparin, Doctor?

Well, heparin is colorless, remains colorless.

The medication in the bottle

was unmistakably turning brownish in color.

It was quite obvious that something had either

been added to the heparin, or that it had been replaced.

And what did your analysis of the contents

of that bottle reveal?

It contained half heparin, and half adrenaline.

And this mixture of half heparin, half adrenaline

had been injected into the decedent that night

in place of his usual injection of heparin?

The postmortem indicated that, yes.

Well, what would be the result

of the injection of such a mixture?

Adrenaline is useful, but a very powerful drug.

It's given in extremely small dosages.

One half cubic centimeter,

which must have been the amount injected,

would constitute a fantastically massive dose,

even for a young, healthy person.

And for the decedent,

considering his age and his health?

It literally and actually caused Abner Gordon's heart

to beat itself to death.

Oh, Bruce, uh, the defendant, told me

about a week before Mr. Gordon's death

that he planned to leave his, uh... his job.

He mentioned the payment of money

which he claimed Mr. Gordon had promised him...

$50,000.

Did you speak with the decedent about this particular $50,000?

Yes, and he became very excited.

He said something about, uh... uh, about...

Go on, Mr. Farrell.

Well, about, uh...

about rats leaving a sinking ship.

Really?

Did he indicate he would refuse

to give Mr. Jay the $50,000?

Well, no, not entirely.

He said Bruce would have to wait until after he, uh,

Mr. Gordon, was dead,

- to collect the money. - In other words,

he said the defendant could only collect that money

through inheritance?

Through the will

that we've already introduced here in evidence?

That is correct.

Now, as to the second will

that we've also introduced in evidence,

the will that Abner Gordon threatened to substitute

if his niece failed to make restitution of certain funds...

Did that second will provide $50,000 for Bruce Jay?

No, in that case, every cent would have gone to charity.

I see. Now,

did the defendant give you any reason

for his plan to leave his position with Mr. Gordon?

Yes. To marry Phyllis Clover.

And did you intend

to continue your nursing career after your marriage?

No, Bruce was going to open a bookstore.

Oh, yes, with money he hoped to inherit.

With the money that Abner Gordon owed him and promised

to pay.

Miss Clover, on the day of Abner Gordon's death,

an order was phoned into the pharmacist

for a renewal of the heparin prescription.

Did you phone that order in yourself, personally?

No. I asked someone else to do it.

Not, by any chance, the defendant Bruce Jay?

Well, there were some things

he needed to order from the pharmacist, too.

Now, Miss Clover, you heard the pharmacist testify

that he personally refilled that prescription,

and that the bottle,

when he wrapped it with the rest of the order,

contained only heparin.

During that night, you did use the new bottle

that had just arrived, didn't you?

Yes.

And when you gave Abner Gordon his injection

of what you believed to be heparin,

what color was the medication in the bottle?

It had no color.

It was just as colorless then

as it was when you unwrapped the package

from the pharmacist, is that right?

Yes, it... Well, I...

You did unwrap the package yourself, didn't you?

Didn't you?!

No.

The package was open when I got it.

Well, I took the package from the druggist's man

when he delivered it to the house.

And did you open it?

No, sir.

Did you give it to the nurse?

No, no, I didn't.

What did you do with it?

Well, uh, Mr. Jay... the defendant...

Uh, was in the hall and, uh, he took the package.

Did he give you any reason why he wanted the package?

Uh, something about some item of his own that he was expecting.

And what did Mr. Jay then do with the package?

Well, he, uh, took it into his room and closed the door.

Well, Mr. Jay called me into his room

and he gave me the package... The open package...

And he asked me to take it up to Miss Clover.

She was waiting for Mr. Gordon's medicine.

Dr. Lambert, would you explain for us,

in layman's terms if possible,

your opinion of how a dose of adrenaline would react

on a man in Abner Gordon's condition?

It would be as if somebody had taken a small transistor radio

that was designed to run on a one-cell flashlight battery,

and hooked it up to a 50 million-volt power generator.

Very well put, Doctor.

Now, tell me, Abner Gordon was not your only patient

in this household, was he?

No, I took care of just about everybody in the house.

Including the defendant

- Bruce Jay? - Yes.

Well, will you please describe to the court

the defendant's medical condition?

A chronic inflammation of the lung tissues.

He'd aspirated an unusual amount of chemical

and metallic particles in an industrial accident.

And what effect did this accident have on him?

Well, that amount of material in the lung tissue produced

a chronic bronchitis, the first stages of pulmonary emphysema.

He has, then, on occasion, difficulty breathing,

very much as someone would have

who was suffering from severe asthma?

Exactly the same symptoms.

And you prescribed exactly the same treatment...

The same treatment you would have prescribed

for an asthmatic?

Well, broadly speaking, yes.

In addition to the long-term treatment,

the emergency treatment is essentially the same.

By emergency treatment, Doctor, you mean something

to help the patient quickly to be able to breathe?

Yes.

A nebulizer it's called.

Something like this, Doctor?

This nebulizer belongs to the defendant Bruce Jay

and was, I assume, prescribed by you.

What drug does this contain, Doctor?

Adrenaline.

For the love of Mike, Perry,

we've been here for more than two hours.

How long are we going to wait?

All night if we have to.

What's the matter... Lose your curiosity?

After you sat there in court all day without opening your mouth

and then go running off in the middle of the night

to play cops and robbers?

No, I haven't lost my curiosity.

But... you suppose Paul Drake is wrong?

I doubt it.

This character is a creature of habit in more ways than one.

That's just the trouble.

So am I, and one of my habits happens to be sleeping at night.

Now, if he doesn't show up here pretty soon, I'm just...

I'm sorry.

I...

Hey, look out, the cops, the cops!

I'll take that book.

Let's have a look.

Tracey Boy, you just got yourself

that platoon of promoters.

Yeah, I've been on the stuff, uh...

over a year now.

When you first met Rachel Gordon,

when you began to keep company,

was she aware that you were a narcotics addict?

No, not right away.

And when she discovered it?

She sent me to a private clinic to kick it.

Among the drugs they used,

nalorphine was given as part of your cure?

Yeah, they even gave me some to take home.

This nalorphine afterwards was like,

was like mainlining with talcum powder... nothing.

Just, uh, just the once, the once I used it, that's all.

The attempted cure was of short duration?

I found better ways to spend her money.

Did Rachel Gordon then sever her relationship with you?

No.

We were both hooked... each in our own way.

She used my habit to keep me in line.

I was chained to her, to her pocketbook,

to the lousy money she kept doling out to me for the stuff.

And sometimes she would not

or could not pay.

Yeah.

Sometimes it was, was bad, real bad.

The time, for example,

two nights before Abner Gordon's death,

when you tried to break into the house through the side door?

Oh, you, you don't know what it's like.

That, that fire inside of you.

Well, you'd do anything, you'd lie, you'd steal, you'd...

Kill?

No.

No, not that.

Don't try to pin that one on me.

You admitted to Paul Drake,

the subject was discussed between you.

- Maybe I did, but... - Such a simple answer...

Kill Uncle Abner and inherit a million and a half dollars.

Now, now, now, I-look, look, mister.

Her... she tried to make a clay pigeon out of the old man...

Her, not, not me.

And think of the junk you could buy

for a million and a half dollars.

No, no, you don't know what you're talking about.

Wednesday night you were desperate.

You tried to break into the house.

You tried to break into the house to see her,

unsuccessfully.

Thursday night Abner Gordon had a stroke, and again

you didn't see her.

Then on Friday,

Friday she told you there'd be no more money.

No, no, that's a, that's a lie.

You didn't know where to turn.

Your body was starved for the poison you'd been feeding it.

You were desperate.

No, that's not true.

So again on Friday you returned to the house.

Stop it, stop it!

She phoned me... I swear she did.

She left dough for me in my apartment,

under the pillow... A hundred bucks.

She called me at midnight to tell me where she'd left it.

I found the dough and I went out to get me a fix!

Honest.

It's the truth.

You got to believe me.

I was nowhere near the house that night.

Honest, it's the truth.

I was nowhere near the house that night.

The law reads that there can be no homicide

unless a living human being is the victim.

Of course, while the defendant is not guilty of homicide

if his victim is not living,

he may be guilty of an attempt to commit murder

or of an aggravated assault.

Tell me, have criminal charges been filed against you

for firing three shots into the dead body of your uncle?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

Not even charges for attempted murder or aggravated assault?

I don't think so.

But you did want to kill him?

Yes.

I'm sorry, but we must have a clear picture

of your performance, Miss Gordon.

Now, your plan was to kill your uncle the next day

while you were alone with him

and claim it was the act of some unknown housebreaker.

Is that the proper setting?

Yes.

Your desire was to kill him, your intent was murder,

so you went into his room and shot him.

But he was already dead.

You didn't know that, however.

No, I didn't know that.

It's obvious to me that even if the gun were unloaded,

it's still assault to threaten someone with it.

Not if there's no present ability.

Please, can't you...?

Yes, present ability.

Present ability.

To convict a person,

to convict a person of assault, it is not only necessary

to show that he intended to inflict injury

but also that he had present ability

to inflict such injury.

Of course, that's a legal term one wouldn't know

unless he happened to read law,

and it is the law in California.

I admit I tried to kill him.

It was a terrible thing to do.

What more do you want me to say?

The burn on your arm... I assume it's healing well?

Uh, yeah, yes, it's fine.

You know, that required considerable courage.

Courage?

Deliberately burning yourself.

What?

Poor Rachel Gordon.

Everyone felt so sorry for you.

But that's what you wanted, wasn't it?

No.

To be pitied, to be accepted as sick, neurotic,

on the verge of a breakdown,

with a relentless drive

to kill the man responsible for your condition.

You're out of your mind.

You knew the coffeepot was broken.

That's why you picked it up, jerked the handle loose,

and deliberately scalded yourself.

No, I didn't.

Yes, Rachel, yes,

because it was necessary that you have an undeniable reason

to force Dr. Lambert to give you

a pain-relieving opiate.

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

Necessary for everyone to think

you were drugged, sedated, sound asleep.

But I was drugged.

Oh, yes, but with two drugs.

After Dr. Lambert gave you his injection,

you then took a shot of your own,

isn't that right... A shot of nalorphine?

The nalorphine you found in your boyfriend's apartment?

No, stop it.

And nalorphine counteracts the opiate, doesn't it, cancels it?

I ne... I never heard of such a thing.

And I never heard of such a deliberately evil plan.

You knew if your uncle ever died, you'd be blamed,

and so, to divert all suspicion,

you killed him not once but twice.

That's a lie.

You not only fired bullets into your uncle's dead body,

you put Bruce Jay's adrenaline into the bottle of heparin

and created the mixture that killed him.

But I was asleep, I tell you.

Ask Dr. Lambert.

At 11:00 he put me to sleep.

He drugged me to sleep.

Then, how were you able to phone Tracey Walcott at midnight

and tell him to look under the pillow

for the money you had left him?

How?

No further questions.

You know, Paul, I missed the clue on the 12:00 call entirely,

but then I looked it up and there it was,

right in the Tracey Walcott testimony.

Oh, I caught that one, but, Perry, what gave you the idea

that Rachel was checking into the law?

Well, if you see a crooked picture,

you straighten it, don't you?

Huh?

Same with a book you find upside-down.

There was one in their library.

When I straightened it,

I noticed it was one of the penal codes

and there was no dust on it.

So someone there might have been reading it,

but, Perry, what if it was a maid's negligence

or an accident or...?

Della, you know what Justice Holmes said

in reference to negligence?

It also applies to clues.

- He said... - "Even a dog

distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked."