Original subtitles

I think you're looking for me.

Mr. Holman?

Won't you be seated, Miss Wynne?

This way.

I consider myself somewhat of a judge of voices.

Yours had a... whiskey-and-soda tone to it.

I ordered for you.

I don't drink.

Calories?

Maybe you're right.

It'd be a shame to spoil a figure like yours.

Save the boy-girl amenities, Mr. Holman.

I'm here to talk business, not fun and games.

Well, there's no extra charge for looking...

while I listen.

Now, go ahead, talk business, Miss Wynne.

You are a private detective

with a highly questionable reputation,

which includes considerable skill

in tapping telephone lines.

No, I prefer my clients to accept me

as a consultant in electronic surveillance.

Electronic eavesdropping.

No. No, I install certain highly specialized kinds of equipment.

A private, leased telephone line locked in a desk.

- Can it be tapped? - Yes.

Tapped so that whatever is said on that telephone

at any time of the day or night can be recorded?

Mm-hmm.

Tapped so that no one but me has access to the recordings?

Whatever you want.

How do I reach you when I'm ready?

Same number you called to set up this date.

If I'm not around, an answering service will pick up the call.

I'll call you back within an hour.

Now... sit back, relax

while we go over the details.

I have an appointment.

The only detail I'm interested in from you, Mr. Holman,

is the cost of your services.

Five thousand dollars.

What?!

Five thousand dollars.

In advance.

I'm not accustomed to purchasing a pig in a poke.

How do I know I'm getting what I pay for?

Uh, come with me.

- I - think you're looking for me.

Mr. Holman?

Won't you be seated, Miss Wynne?

This way.

I consider myself somewhat of a judge of voices.

Yours had a... whiskey-and-soda tone to it.

I ordered for you.

I don't drink.

Calories?

- $5,000 in advance. - Mm-hmm.

I'll call.

The housekeeper tells me

you're not going to the movies with her.

I just don't feel like it, Uncle Archer.

Well, you're not sick or anything, are you?

No particular problem. I'm just not in the mood, that's all.

Moods and women... beyond me.

That from the great expert, Archer Bryant?

Nancy, your Uncle Archer is a bachelor.

And bachelors are roués.

I confess to being both wicked and profligate.

You know, I have a season box at the Bowl.

It's, uh, a little dusty and unused, but it's mine.

There's a concert of some kind there tonight.

Interested?

And deprive some mature woman

of your charmingly wicked and profligate company?

Still resentful because I fired that man almost a year ago?

"Mature." Heh.

He was a little too mature for you.

An opportunistic accountant

looking for personal advancement by romancing my niece.

Uncle Archer,

I'm grateful to you for taking me in last year

and giving me a home.

I know you mean well, but I'm not a child.

I guess I'm not very good at playing mother and father.

And I'm sorry.

But you won't have to put up with it for very much longer.

I'm just a girl.

No prize package... Just a plain, ordinary girl.

Just a plain, ordinary girl

to whom I turn over a million dollars in a few months

when she attains her majority.

Excuse me.

Yes?

I'll be down in a minute.

My secretary's downstairs in the study with some papers.

There's still time to dress.

No.

Evening, Vera.

Mr. Bryant.

If these letters are to go out tonight, I'll, uh,

- I'll need your signature. - What's all this?

Oh, that's a preliminary draft of the comptroller's report.

I suggested to Mr. Darrell you might like a chance

to glance over it at your leisure.

Mr. Clyde Darrell... the young genius with a bright future.

Amazing how he's come along with the company.

Of course you've been a big help spending so much time with him.

You know, this looks pretty good, Vera.

It's better than good.

It's excellent.

Well, the enthusiastic den mother.

Or are you mistaking mentality for maturity?

He's almost ten years younger than you are, Vera.

Would you sign these letters now, please?

Well, what do you know?

Vera Wynne, the machine-like executive secretary.

You know better than that.

Don't you, Archer?

He's busy, Mr. Forrest.

Well, I have the breakdown and the stock analysis

for his selection committee meeting tomorrow.

I'm sure it can wait.

I don't care what you're sure of...

He wanted to see these as soon as they were ready.

If you'll leave them with me, I'll see that

Mr. Bryant gets them the moment he's free.

Look, Miss Wynne, I am the treasurer of this company,

not the office boy delivering the morning coffee!

Now you ring and let him know I'm here!

He asked not to be disturbed.

Oh, but of course you're free to ignore that

and barge right in, if you like.

The door isn't locked.

Who's in there anyway?

Is it the whiz kid of So-Cal Mutual?

Is it Mr. Darrell?

Have you arranged for the heir apparent

to get some undisturbed apple-polishing in?

Is that why Mr. Bryant can't be disturbed?

I'll tell him you were here... That you were rather...

rather petulant at not seeing him at your convenience

and that you refused to leave the reports.

Good morning, Mr. Forrest.

Good morning, Miss Wynne!

Good morning.

I saw these and thought you might like them,

so I stopped and picked 'em for you on the way over.

How lovely!

And how thoughtful of you, Mr. Jarvis. Thank you.

My pleasure, Miss Wynne, my pleasure, believe me.

Uh-huh. Excuse me.

Ian Jarvis is here.

ARCHER: Send him in.

Go right in, Mr. Jarvis.

Oh, and, uh... thank you again.

Oh, gentlemen.

Gentlemen, good morning, good morning,

and a very good morning to you, Archer.

Jarvis, your stock brokerage...

how much business do we give you in an average year?

Well, that's a strange question.

I-I don't know just offhand.

In the last ten years, never less than $5 million gross.

And it has gone as high as seven and a half.

Clyde Darrell, our new comptroller.

An enterprising executive

who doesn't have to be told what to do.

I've heard about you, Mr. Darrell.

I've been looking forward to meeting you. And, uh...

Paul Drake, a private investigator

I found it necessary to employ.

Look... i-is something wrong?

Wh-What's the matter, Archer? Why did you send for me?

Twice a month, on the analysis and recommendation

of a selection committee,

I adjust the portfolio of this company's holdings

by buying or selling stock.

The best small mutual in the country!

I advise all my own clients to buy in. You know that.

My decision to purchase a particular stock

can artificially inflate the open-market value of that stock.

So we buy from contract brokers

in small blocks across the country

to keep the price down, at least until our needs are met.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Jarvis,

a list of securities identical with this company's

was purchased in New York and Boston.

By the time our orders had been filled, uh,

the prices had begun to rise in Chicago.

Sure, sure. I remember the stuff was up two to three points

before I could place your orders here in L.A.

A person or persons with advance knowledge of our plans,

by buying before us and then selling

after our purchases had raised the price,

netted over a hundred thousand dollars in less than a day.

A leak that cost this company

over a quarter of a million dollars.

And I employed Mr. Drake to find that leak.

Mr. Bryant, using a leased phone line here in this office,

made a conference call to six brokers

across the country the evening before.

That same evening, after receiving Mr. Bryant's call,

one of those brokers made some calls of his own

to other brokers in Boston and New York.

You made those calls, Mr. Jarvis.

And I have proof of how much each of those brokers you called

kicked back to you, proof that will stand up in court.

How much was it worth to you, Jarvis,

breaching your trust?

Enough, I hope,

because it's the last chance you're going to get.

That'll be all.

They're truly lovely.

Thank you again.

You knew what was going to happen inside there, didn't you?

Of course.

I wonder if Nero smiled at the Christians

before he tossed them to the lions.

Call me if you need anything else.

Thanks, Paul. You did a good job.

You paid a good price for it. Miss Wynne.

How did it go?

Well, he was furious with Jarvis,

and, uh, very pleased with me.

Pleased with my concern for the company,

pleased with the way I did what I did without having to be told.

Clyde!

Oh, Vera, how do I say I'm grateful?

Hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have known, I-I...

Mmm. Thank you.

Thanks for everything.

Mr. Holman, if that equipment is ready,

bring it with you tonight.

Meet me in the basement garage at 8:00.

Mr. Holman?

Follow me.

This way.

Now, that's the transmitter.

Now you say you don't want anybody else

to have access to the recording but you?

That's right.

Well, then, the receiver can't be further

than a 150 feet away from the transmitter in the phone.

How about my desk in the next office?

Uh. Well, why not?

Every time the leased phone in your boss' desk is used,

the equipment here in your desk will automatically record

both ends of the telephone conversation.

The wire's good for four hours.

Battery is good for ten times that long.

Playback, reverse and erase switches

are marked clearly on the recorder.

What do I do with the equipment after I've finished?

Throw it away. I don't care.

Belongs to you, you know. You bought it.

And it can't be traced to me.

You know, you never did have that drink with me.

With what you earned tonight,

I'm sure you'll be able to console yourself.

I left the hall doors unlocked.

Don't let yourself be seen leaving.

Oh, I not only won't be seen, honey.

I wasn't even here tonight.

Um... Uh, good night, Miss Wynne.

This is Nero.

I'm sure you remember.

I remember.

There's a meeting of the selection committee

tomorrow afternoon,

and a new stock list to be called out tomorrow evening.

So?

If you had that list,

could you place orders in the East?

A transaction like that would have to be on a cash basis only.

$200,000 cash will be delivered to you

by bonded messenger tomorrow afternoon.

And the profits... if there are any?

The original capital is to be returned.

The profits to be evenly divided.

You keep your share. The rest...

To the private bank account of Mr. Archer Bryant.

This is different than the last matter

I handled for Clyde, Perry,

so I suggested he tell you the story himself.

Mr. Darrell, you believe someone has embezzled money

from your company?

$200,000 in cash.

And why haven't you gone to the police?

Well, the only evidence that money is missing is evidence

that, uh, one of the company executives,

including me, is responsible.

Occasionally, the company uses large amounts of cash.

Clyde, as comptroller, signs the checks.

I signed a check for $200,000 just the other day.

As of this morning, not one red cent in the cash box.

The company books must show why the money was needed.

Miss Street, as far as the company books are concerned,

there's no record of that check ever being prepared,

no record the check was signed,

no record of cash being obtained,

no record of what happened to that cash.

But the bank records show that $200,000 in cash was paid out.

Who receives the cancelled checks from the bank?

I do, first.

Then the checks go to Elliot Forrest,

the company treasurer,

and then they're handled by about, uh, six people

in the accounting department.

But by you, first.

So you could destroy that cancelled check?

Yes, Paul, if I were the embezzler,

I could destroy the check.

But in a day, two days at the most,

the, uh, books would show up unbalanced.

Remember, the bank does have a record of that check.

The embezzler must know that, and must be counting on that one

or two days.

Which means the embezzler's gonna have

- to get hold of that check. - Paul,

can we have that check at the bank

chemically treated before they send it out?

No reason the bank shouldn't cooperate.

Check treated?

When it comes to you, Monday,

say nothing about it,

let it be handled like the rest of the checks.

We can identify anyone who so much as touches it.

Or doesn't. If somebody tries to destroy it

before it makes the complete rounds,

we'll know who that somebody is.

Have you, uh, spoken to Mr. Bryant about this yet?

By the time I called the bank for confirmation,

Mr. Bryant was on his way to the selection committee meeting,

and the office is closed for the rest of the day.

But he should be back in the office

in about a half an hour to make the, uh, stock purchase calls.

I could see him then if you think I should.

No. No, I don't think you should.

We'll pick up the last 5,000 shares here in Los Angeles.

Any questions?

Everything's clear and complete, Mr. Bryant.

Fine. Good night.

Mr. Bryant.

Well?

A memo I had written... this one.

A recommendation to you regarding certain procedures.

I wanted to rework it over the weekend

before I gave it to you.

Very commendable.

Well, good night, sir.

Good night. Uh, be sure and lock the front door when you leave.

Yes, sir.

Pick up the last 5,000 shares

here in Los Angeles.

Any questions?

Everything's clear and complete, Mr. Bryant.

Fine. Good night.

Hello? This is Nero again.

Did you get the envelope and the cash?

Yes, they were delivered this afternoon.

Here's the stock list.

Call for you, Mr. Mason.

Mason.

Perry, I know you didn't want to be disturbed,

but Clyde Darrell says it's urgent.

Mm-hmm. Mr. Darrell?

Mr. Mason, it happened again.

No, no, no. Not more money stolen.

Another leak in the stock purchases.

Well, I've got the early market quotations right here.

It stands out like a sore thumb.

Somebody found out what stocks

we planned to buy and bought themselves.

Hold on a minute.

Paul, that leased phone line in Bryant's office...

Can it be tapped?

In these days of fancy industrial espionage,

any phone can be tapped

if a guy's willing to risk going to jail.

Could you find out about Bryant's phone?

Sure.

It's Saturday afternoon.

The office is probably closed.

Could you do it today?

Yeah, I can get everything I need.

All right, Clyde, we're heading back for shore.

We'll meet you in front of your building in about an hour.

That's it.

Radio transmitter inside the phone?

That's what the R.F. Indicator shows,

that's what it's got to be.

Paul, would it be difficult to put an ordinary tap...

Not a radio transmitter... On this leased line?

That's what I looked for first.

There are half-a-dozen places

where any two-bit keyhole peeper could have spliced in.

Could you, uh, locate the receiver

with that R.F. Indicator?

No. Receivers don't transmit a signal.

The receiver picking this up could be anywhere

within a radius of a city block from here.

No way in the world to locate it.

Well, there it is.

Transistorized FM transmitter,

the author's byline in capital letters.

Do you want me to take it out?

No, leave it alone.

We may need it to show what happened,

and we don't want to frighten people away prematurely.

Paul, when you said, "author's byline,"

did you mean you know who installed this tap?

This tap does its own talking.

An investigator who lost his license years ago

for a job exactly like this one.

Character named Glen Holman.

I'd rather Mr. Holman did the talking.

You think you could locate him now?

Well, I can try.

That's all I can tell you.

Thanks.

Well, same story here as every other place else we checked.

Holman closed up shop, packed, and left town this morning.

Mr. Mason, don't you think

we ought to talk to Elliot Forrest?

The company treasurer?

Well, don't you see? Those checks that I signed...

The treasurer prepares all those checks.

Now, it's-it's hard to believe, but it is possible

that it could have been Forrest.

Even if it was, it doesn't necessarily mean

that the same person arranged to have that phone tapped.

Well, who else could it be?

When Forrest prepared checks and vouchers,

did they come directly to you?

No. They went to Mr. Bryant first.

And after he initialed and okayed the voucher,

I signed the check.

Is it possible Mr. Bryant may have

not only initialed the voucher, but prepared the check?

What?!

Well... no. That doesn't make any sense.

Why would he tap his own phone line?

I didn't say he did.

I intimated he might have.

Just as Forrest might have done one or both acts.

Well, I can't understand Forrest trying to frame me.

And why would Mr. Bryant want to do it?

Better ask yourself that question, Clyde.

Sincerely yours, etcetera, etcetera.

And I think that should about do it, Vera.

I'll take these to the office, type them up,

then personally run them down to the airport

to make sure they get off tonight.

Good night, Mr. Bryant.

Vera, there's something I think you ought to know.

I am retiring.

My doctor's full of nonsense about a trick heart.

Oh, not that he thinks

I've got the proverbial foot in the grave,

but he has warned me that I should do more than think

about turning my job over to somebody else.

Are you convincing me or yourself?

What does that mean?

That you're one step ahead

of the board of directors in the east...

A disenchanted board of directors.

Dear Archer, a slightly overage playboy.

And dear Vera,

with her deep sense of loyalty, her warmth and compassion.

I just hope Elliot Forrest appreciates your virtues

as much as I have when he's running the company.

I wouldn't trust him to run a, a streetcar,

much less the company.

Do you have someone else in mind?

That young protégé of yours perhaps?

Yes, Clyde Darrell.

Now?

Darrell.

Oh, he's very smart but he has a lot to learn.

I'll teach him.

Why, you are emotionally involved.

If that means I love him, yes, Archer.

And Clyde?

I couldn't feel the way I do

if I doubted for one moment that what I felt wasn't shared.

I'm sorry, it's out of the question.

And please see that those letters are mailed tonight.

I've known for a long time

that you were on your way out, Archer,

long enough to plan very carefully,

so don't do anything stupid about that recommendation

until you've had time to, to think

and, uh, to remember.

Good night, Archer.

I'm glad you called, glad you came over.

Do you realize it's two whole days since I saw you last?

Now, Nancy darling, listen to me.

This is important.

Has your uncle said anything about me or mentioned me?

Uncle Archer?

No, nothing.

I haven't even told him that we're seeing each other.

Why not?

We have nothing to be ashamed of.

You're a grown woman.

You know your own mind.

We love each other.

I don't know why we just can't tell him.

Clyde, please.

He told me at dinner tonight, he plans to retire.

It won't be long.

I'll tell him, I promise.

Please trust me... and love me.

You want me, Mr. Darrell, just ring a couple times.

I'll be around.

Yeah, okay, thanks, Karl.

Vera, what's wrong?

I-I got your message.

"A matter of life or death," it said.

Meet you here right away.

I-I don't understand.

Why did you trick me?

Trick?

I tried to help you.

I wanted so much for you

because I loved you,

because I thought you loved me.

But, Vera, I never said anything...

No, no, that's right, Clyde, you never said a word.

You never did a thing to mislead me.

Stupid, stupid woman,

ten years older than the man she wanted...

Wanted so badly,

she talked herself into believing he wanted her.

But, Vera...

But to trick me, to use me so despicably to steal!

Th-This is some kind of a joke.

Don't lie, admit it.

You stole $200,000 from the company

and you stole the new stock list.

You're sick, you've got to be sick.

Oh, oh.

Oh, I'm sick... but not you, no.

So full of mealy-mouthed morality

but sneaking around back doors to kiss his niece.

You're sick... you... Sick with ambition!

I don't know how you found out about Nancy

or what this whole nightmare is supposed to mean,

but I'm just not going to stand still and...

That's right,

I recorded every word of this to hang you.

You... you stole the money, you stole the list.

It was you.

It was "dear Vera," "nice Vera" when I was trying to help you,

but it was "I love you, Nancy"

when she put her arms around you.

"I love you, Nancy."

Yes, I tapped the telephone

to force Archer into giving you his job.

You didn't know that, did you?

Maybe you wouldn't have kissed her if you knew that, would you?

Yes, smart little boy, an hour ago...

One hour ago I was going to hand you the whole world.

Now I'm going to destroy you!

You're out of your mind.

No, no, stop it, stop it, Clyde, stop it, stop it!

Aah!

Vera?

Vera... Vera?

Karl!

Karl!

The doctor on the third floor...

He's supposed to be in the building.

Where is he?

I don't know, maybe he stepped out.

Well, find a doctor, a-any doctor, and find him quick.

- Mr. Darrell. - Yes.

I think you'd better come downtown with us now.

May I make a phone call?

Go ahead.

Hello, Mr. Mason.

This is Clyde Darrell.

I need your help.

The, uh, police are taking me downtown.

I, uh, I just killed somebody.

Then when I... I saw the...

blood on my... on my hands, I...

I realized...

what had happened, what I'd done.

Haven't you left something out?

I don't know what else there is.

The phone that you tore loose from that drawer...

When did you pick it up again?

Pick it up again?

- Didn't you? - No, I-I...

I told you. I-I stood up, and then I ran out of the room.

- After, you mean? - After what?

After you picked up the phone

and used it to bludgeon Vera Wynne to death.

What?!

The injury she received when she fell

was a superficial bruise that dazed her.

Vera Wynne was killed by having her skull smashed in.

That spool of recording wire is the one found

in the recorder contained in the desk

of the decedent, Vera Wynne.

The audio switch and receiver attached to that recorder

were tuned to the same frequency

as the transmitter secreted inside the base

of Archer Bryant's leased telephone.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

At this time, Your Honor, the State would like

to enter this spool of wire in evidence

marked for the People, exhibit seven.

May it please the court.

Is it the prosecution's intention merely

to place the wire itself in evidence,

or to make a matter of record

the conversations recorded on that wire?

Mr. Burger?

Recorded on this wire, Your Honor,

is a conversation between the defendant, Clyde Darrell,

and the decedent, Vera Wynne,

which took place only moments before she was killed.

It is this conversation

that I want to make a matter of record.

Illegally obtained wiretap evidence is violative

of the defendant's privilege against self-incrimination.

Mr. Burger, the, uh, California Penal Code does make it a crime

to tap or intercept a communication by any instrument.

I'm certainly aware of that, Your Honor.

But may I point out

that while this instrument was installed inside the phone,

this is not a phone conversation

or communication that was intercepted?

Furthermore, Your Honor,

there was no unreasonable search or seizure

involved in obtaining this recording.

This can considered sort of an electronic eavesdrop,

and evidence from such a source

is just as admissible as it would be

from an individual eavesdropping outside a window.

But not when the electronic eavesdropping

involved an illegal trespass.

The trespass that had to take place

when the equipment was installed.

That equipment was installed, Mr. Mason, by Vera Wynne,

and, therefore, does not involve an illegal trespass.

And she admits as much right here on this recording!

An unsworn, recorded voice not subject to cross-examination.

Vera Wynne may have had the right to put

the receiver and the recorder in her desk,

but not the right to have a transmitter placed

inside a phone belonging to the phone company

and locked in the desk of her employer.

Objection sustained.

When the Lieutenant said, uh,

Mr. Darrell would have to go with him

to the police department, Mr. Darrell made a phone call.

Now, nobody told him to make that call.

In other words, it was voluntary on his part, is that correct?

And he didn't ask to be left in private

while he made the call, did he?

In other words, nobody could conceivably accuse you

of trespassing simply because

you overheard that phone conversation?

What?

To the best

of your recollection, Mr. Lewis,

what were the exact words Mr. Darrell used on the phone?

"Mr. Mason, this is Clyde Darrell.

"I need your help.

"The police are taking me downtown.

I... I just killed somebody."

Well, was the tip worth our coming all the way out here?

The car drove went over the road in the dark.

Plunged about 200 feet down,

almost got lost in some trees and bushes.

The driver was killed instantly.

Do they know when it happened?

Not for sure till they do an autopsy,

but they guess in the neighborhood of a week.

I assume what brought us out here

is the identification of the body.

I got the tip

when they checked out the car license,

but I wasn't sure, so I didn't say anything.

But one of the policemen who climbed down

to pull him up got a good look and recognized him.

Glen Holman, old Mr. Wiretap himself.

Paul, Della's at the office.

Call her for me, would you, please?

Sure.

Operator, this is PD-one-two-four-six.

I'd like to speak

with Madison Five, one-one-nine-oh, please.

Beautiful, this is Paul. Hold it a minute.

Perry wants to talk to you.

Della, I want to talk to Ian Jarvis.

That's right, the stockbroker.

See if you can have him in the office

by the time Paul and I return.

Give him this message exactly.

Tell him I know an excellent defense attorney

who specializes in evasion of income tax cases.

Income tax evasion, my eye!

Mason, I got a good mind to slap a slander suit against you!

Then I suggest you sue, Mr. Jarvis.

Unless they've changed the law,

truth is still a perfectly valid defense to a charge of slander.

What truth?

Don't try running one of your courtroom bluffs on me!

Archer Bryant cancelled his business arrangements

with your company because you breached your trust.

Not nice, but hardly illegal.

And in case you want to know,

I also invested the $200,000 Vera Wynne sent me.

Still no crime.

And since I made both investments within the month,

and since there's still some time

before income tax reports are due,

I'd say you're just a little premature

in accusing me of any evasion!

And there were no other investments before those...

Other investments over a period of, uh, oh, say, one full year?

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense, and you know it!

I understand you're building a $10 million

high-rise office building downtown.

Yeah, well, don't tell me that's illegal.

Here, over your signature,

appended under oath before a notary,

is a copy of the financial statement you used

to set up your construction loan.

Do those figures accurately reflect your gross income

for the past few years?

Why... of course they do.

The, uh, brokers in New York and Boston...

Mr. Drake's operatives have been in touch with them.

Do your gross income figures

represent the amounts they've paid you?

Paid you in the last year?

Paid you for your personal account?

Mr. Jarvis.

When I put you on the stand,

you won't be able to turn your back and walk away.

You'd better not put me on that stand.

Because if you do,

I'll have to tell about the last call Vera Wynne made to me,

made the night she was killed.

The call telling me not to put

half the profits in Archer's account.

You see, she told me she might have

some trouble with her "partner,"

and if she did, she wanted me to put the money in his account...

in the account of Clyde Darrell.

Miss Bryant, approximately a year ago,

after the death of your mother and father,

you came to live with your uncle, Archer Bryant.

And shortly thereafter,

you and an accountant employed by your uncle

became interested in each other.

Isn't that correct?

We had a few dates, nothing more.

Yes, but at that time, your uncle, Archer Bryant,

who is also your legal guardian

and the trustee of the estate your father left you,

did interfere, didn't he?

He... fired the man,

and refused to let me see him anymore.

And in order to avoid a repetition of this...

unpleasant occurrence, when you became interested

in the defendant, Clyde Darrell, and he in you,

wasn't it decided between you

that at least for the time being your...

new relationship would be kept surreptitious?

Objection, Your Honor.

Prosecutor's use of language is prejudicial

and an expression of Mr. Burger's opinion,

not the witness's testimony.

I certainly didn't mean to characterize, Counselor.

"Surreptitious," "clandestine"... Both words mean the same.

"Surreptitious" goes far beyond

the word "clandestine," Mr. Burger.

The word has connotations of stealth, lack of authority,

and even fraud.

Objection sustained.

Miss Bryant...

were your frequent meetings with the defendant

a matter of open knowledge, or...

Not to characterize the word in any way...

Were they secret?

We've known each other less than a month.

I saw no reason to create any problems about Clyde's job

- because he was seeing me. - Thank you.

Precisely and exactly, if you please,

on the night Vera Wynne was murdered,

- did you see the defendant? - Yes.

Can you tell us exactly where?

Just outside the back door.

Just outside? Does that mean one foot,

two, three, six, ten feet outside the door?

A few feet.

Two. Maybe three.

And why did he want to see you?

He did call, didn't he, and say that he wanted to see you?

Yes, he called.

He wanted to know if Uncle Archer knew about the two of us.

But he didn't like it, though.

He wanted to go right in and tell him.

And while you were slipping out the back door

to see the defendant, where was Uncle Archer?

In the study, with Vera Wynne.

And meanwhile,

two or three feet outside the back door,

after you had reassured the defendant that your uncle

knew nothing about the two of you,

exactly what happened?

Clyde kissed me.

And did he say anything to you at that moment?

He told me that he loved me.

Vera told me, most emphatically,

that she was in love with Clyde Darrell.

And in this connection, what did she seem to believe

about Clyde Darrell?

Oh, she also told me, most emphatically,

that he was in love with her.

I see. Now, Mr. Bryant,

you finished the letters you were dictating,

you talked to the decedent for a few moments,

noting the strange pressures

with which she seemed to be threatening you

in her effort to get you to promote the defendant,

and then the decedent left.

- What happened then? - Oh, I suppose it was

a minute or two after that... After Vera left...

That I left the study to go upstairs.

Well, when I stepped into the hall...

Go on.

Well, I was surprised to see Vera there.

You mean she hadn't left?

No. Very strangely,

she was coming from the back of the house.

From the back?

From the service porch, perhaps?

Yes. She walked right straight past me

to the front door and out of the house,

almost in a... a daze.

Almost as if she might have heard something at the back door

and had been shocked by it?

Objection.

I withdraw the question, Your Honor.

Mr. Bryant, let's get back for a moment

to the $200,000 check.

Did you okay that check, sir?

Yes, I did.

Vera gave it to me along with some other checks.

We were about to purchase a considerable amount of stock

and we very often employ large sums of cash,

so I saw nothing unusual,

particularly since it was attached

to the usual justifying voucher

from our treasurer, Elliot Forrest.

I did not prepare that check.

I did not prepare that voucher.

I had nothing to do with the theft of $200,000

from the company. Nothing.

Thank you, Mr. Forrest.

Your witness.

Mr. Forrest, in your experience,

was this the first instance of a large sum of money

being missing from your company?

Well, the first real instance.

Real? Was there a prior shortage that wasn't real?

Well, about a year ago, I was preparing a financial statement

and found over $750,000 missing.

Well, naturally, there was quite a fuss.

That is, until Mr. Bryant discovered

it was all a bookkeeping error.

- Your error? - Don't be ridiculous.

Uh, our then comptroller, a man who was unfamiliar

with our methods, it was his error,

although he denied it.

This comptroller...

was it by chance the same gentleman

who was keeping company at that time with Miss Nancy Bryant?

Not that I was aware of.

But Mr. Archer Bryant did fire this man?

Yes. Because of the mistake the man made.

Is it possible there was no mistake?

That's ridiculous.

Is it possible the money was actually stolen...

and later returned?

- What? - Later returned.

Returned to balance the books,

so the thief wouldn't go to prison.

I just told you.

The man made a mistake.

The man was fired.

Because of the mistake,

not because he was seeing Miss Bryant?

It had nothing to do with her.

Your Honor...

I should like to recall Miss Nancy Bryant to the stand.

I'd just moved in.

We hardly knew one another.

I didn't want to make an issue out of disobeying my uncle.

Uncle Archer insisted that the man was too old for me

and interested in my money, not me.

Your father's estate...

A million dollars, in other words...

To be turned over to you in two months.

Yes.

Do you consider yourself a fool?

What?

Do you consider yourself a fool?

No.

Do you love Clyde Darrell?

- Yes. - Do you consider him a fool?

N... No!

Or a fortune hunter?

Well, that's ridiculous.

Quite ridiculous.

Now, why did you ask him to trust you?

To wait, and not let your uncle know

you were seeing one another?

Please, Mr. Mason, I...

Your uncle is the only family you have.

Are you trying to protect him?

Five weeks ago, just before your first date

with Clyde Darrell,

you went to your bank to check on an item in your statement.

You were surprised, weren't you,

to learn from one of the bank officers

that the bank was the depository of your trust funds,

as well as your private checking account?

Oh, I didn't know.

Uncle Archer handled the trust and so...

You were even more surprised, according to the bank officers,

to learn that a year ago Archer Bryant withdrew $750,000

from your trust account for investment purposes.

Did your uncle tell you about that investment?

But he must have put it back.

What's the difference?

Every penny was put back.

The bank said everything was all right.

That accountant you had dated a few times,

he was fired at the same time your uncle withdrew that money.

Did it dawn on you that Clyde Darrell

was also an accountant,

also worked for the company,

also might be somebody your uncle wouldn't want you

to become fond of?

Archer Bryant embezzled to cover gambling losses,

then stole money from your trust account

to cover his embezzlement from the company.

Along with Ian Jarvis, your uncle has continued

to breach his trust,

continued personally to profit

at the expense of the stockholders

and board members who put their faith

- in his integrity... - That's enough!

Leave her alone!

Glen Holman used a radio transmitter

to tap your phone.

Why?

So he, as well as Vera Wynne, could record your phone calls?

And what did Holman record?

Not one, but two sets of outgoing calls

from you that night.

One was your regular company phone call ordering stocks.

Now, the second call, what was it?

A call to Mr. Jarvis to place your personal order

for the same stocks?

Was that what Holman recorded?

Did he come to you with that incriminating recording?

Did he try to blackmail you?

$50,000!

That's what he wanted. $50,000!

So you knocked him out...

drove his car to a secluded spot on the cliffs near your home,

and pushed Glen Holman to his death.

No, no, no, no!

We had a fight.

He... he knocked me out of the car.

Then the car rolled over the edge.

Don't you understand? I didn't mean to kill him!

And Vera Wynne... did you mean to kill her?

I came up the back way.

I-I took the private elevator, see.

And she came, too, and she started to scream.

She knew everything! Everything!

She was mad, I tell you.

She was out of her mind!

She came at me, and I-I had the telephone in my hand.

Well, I... I... It was an accident!

An accident?

Is that why you wore gloves when you picked up the phone?

The phone wasn't wiped clean.

Clyde's fingerprints were on it, but not yours.

Ian Jarvis and Archer Bryant, partners in crime.

That's hard to believe.

You know, Paul, you and I were in this room right here

- when Jarvis was kicked out. - Sure.

You'd uncovered their little game and I'd found the proof.

Archer had to light into Jarvis, and Jarvis had to take it.

There was nothing they could do but put on an act.

Mr. Mason, in court, if Uncle Archer had made two calls,

wouldn't the wire recording have had the second call

to Mr. Jarvis?

Why didn't you let them play it?

Well, that was our problem.

It didn't have either call.

Only a record of Clyde's argument with Vera.

Burger played it for me beforehand

to try to persuade me into letting it be admitted.

Obviously, Vera was too smart

to leave all of that recording around.

She probably, and logically, cut off the earlier part...

The part with Archer's calls... And then hid it.

Why did she pick on me?

Vera was a kingmaker.

She couldn't just fall in love with an ordinary man.

It had to be a man and a financial future

all rolled up into one... A man like you.

Vera... Holman and my charming and frightened uncle,

running on a treadmill to nowhere.

Such a futile waste!

Why, Mr. Mason?

The answer was given a long time ago, Nancy.

Answer a fool according to his own folly.