Original subtitles

♪♪

Sadie... where's Sadie?

Your maid took ten dollars, plus my assurances I was a friend,

and let me bring you your coffee.

I've never laid eyes on you before.

I suppose you do have a name.

Mignon Germaine.

Larry is my son...

The son you seem to have made up your mind to destroy.

A hangover and you.

Look, lady, do me a favor: just, just go away.

I've worked hard to give Larry a chance

to make something of himself.

I'm not going to see him ruined

by some immature infatuation

for an alcoholic floozy.

You know something?

I don't blame you.

But, then, I don't blame myself either.

Larry's fun.

Could be I love him.

You've never loved anything but yourself and money...

The kind of money Larry doesn't have,

won't have for years.

Dear me, and I thought assistant district attorneys had

such profitable fringe benefits.

He's already borrowed beyond his means to satisfy your appetites.

I like him.

I enjoy his company.

He's a big boy now and such a nice big boy,

and if he wants to stay around,

that's his business, not his mother's,

and there's nothing, absolutely nothing you can do about it.

That's not quite true, Miss Wileen.

You can call me Carina, Mother.

Larry's well-being is the most important thing in my life.

If necessary, to protect him, I'd do anything.

Anything?

Even kill me?

There's an experience I haven't had... death.

Might almost be welcome.

Be my guest.

Levinson filed an affidavit under 1034,

asking for a change of venue.

Ha, he must be kidding.

For that two-time loser he represents?

He claims a fair and impartial trial is impossible.

The hearing's tomorrow morning at 10:00... Department 70.

Well, we'd better file a counter affidavit.

I've already had one drawn up.

Good.

All right, good.

- Anything else? - No, I think that's it.

- Larry. - Yeah.

About that Duncan fraud case...

I sent you a memo on that.

Yes, I know you did,

recommending that we take no action.

That's right.

Well, Jack Randall, the man who claims

Brady Duncan defrauded him, was in here this morning.

He asked for you but he saw me when it became obvious

that you were going to be... late.

He's pretty insistent.

He says that he's only holding up his civil action

until after we finish our criminal prosecution.

That's his side of the coin.

I don't think there's a basis for civil or criminal action.

No intent to defraud.

Well, maybe it's constructive.

Maybe it's implied instead of expressed fraudulent intent.

Representations were never made to Randall

that Duncan ever assumed would be relied upon.

Larry, I bucked that memo back to you.

I want you to think about it some more.

I suggest you set up an appointment

for Mr. Duncan and his attorney here with you and me.

Neil Howard represents him, doesn't he?

Yes, good man.

Yes, he is, I agree.

Did you meet Neil Howard through Carina Wileen,

or did you meet Carina Wileen through Neil Howard?

Wait a minute, is that an insinuation of misfeasance,

of undue influence affecting my decision

in the Duncan case?

Larry, please try to understand what I'm saying to you.

Is there anything else, Mr. Burger?

No, Mr. Germaine, nothing.

Yeah.

Neil Howard, the attorney, called.

It's important.

He'd like you to call back.

Are you sure he didn't ask for Larry Germaine?

He asked specifically for you.

All right, call him back.

Oh, and then make me a reservation for tonight...

The dinner show at the Club Caribbe.

Brady, when you told me you weren't feeling well today,

you promised to stay home and rest, not work.

Only a few more minutes, Ruth,

but then I promise to take a nap.

I'm sorry, Ruth, I wouldn't have come over

if it could have waited until tomorrow.

All right, a few more minutes,

and, Curt, we're expecting you for dinner tonight.

I'll be here.

Oh, dear, first the general manager,

now the company attorney.

Five minutes, Brady, no more.

Then I'll come in and throw them both out bodily.

How are you, Neil?

Fine, Ruth, fine.

I, uh, I thought we'd better discuss this personally.

I spoke to the district attorney.

They're going to drop

those ridiculous charges of Randall's, hmm?

Well, I was sure that's what they'd decide, but I was wrong.

Evidently they're still considering prosecution

for criminal fraud.

What are the chances for conviction?

In my opinion, practically nil, Mr. Ordway.

And Jack Randall's chances in a civil suit?

Well, juries, even when they're trying to be fair,

are sometimes influenced subconsciously

to favor the, the little man fighting

the big industrial giant.

What you're saying is, we could lose,

could be tied up in the courts for years

fighting injunctions, appeals.

I don't like it.

There must be something you can do, Neil.

Well, it's possible, just possible that,

that something has been done.

And now the Club Caribbe is proud to present

Return of the Spirits from Beneath the Water.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mambo Mignon.

♪♪

You don't really believe you can cast a voodoo hex

on someone by sticking pins in a doll like this, do you?

Magie noire is no joke.

What did you call it?

Magie noire...black magic.

The voodoo sorcerer uses it to summon evil spirits...

The same evil spirits that are now holding your tongue

to prevent you from saying what you came here to tell me.

It concerns Larry, doesn't it?

Yes, it does.

I'll admit I've been worrying about him.

Because of Carina Wileen?

You know about her?

I know.

We've been good friends, Mignon, for a long time.

When I gave your boy a job, I was doing more of a favor

to my own department than I was to you.

His law school record was just excellent

and he's done very good work for us,

but in spite of that and friend or not,

I now find myself facing the possibility

of having to fire him.

Because of what he's doing?

No, no, the problem is something he's not doing.

Larry, you did come.

Oh.

I'm sorry, but when they told me, I thought you were...

This is Agnes Fanchon.

Hamilton Burger.

Mr. Burger is the district attorney.

He not only stopped by to see

the show but to apologize for Larry.

You did say that Larry was tied up

with some very important work, didn't you, Hamilton?

Why, yes, that's right.

Larry is busy tonight working.

Carina.

Oh, I, I just started to put my head down,

all of a sudden I got dizzy, but I'm all right now.

I'm all right now.

Haven't you had enough of that stuff?

You're as bad as your mother.

My mother?

She was here this morning,

ordering me to stay away from you.

Carina, I'm sorry.

Don't be; she's right.

You really can't afford me, you know.

Yeah.

Larry, maybe you should find yourself

some sweet, simple thing

who yearns for a tract cottage with a tract picket fence

- and tract neighbors. - Carina, stop it.

You knew what I was,

you knew what I earned, what I could earn.

- Why did you...? - Why did I lead you on?

Because I like the way you dance and I like the drinks you mix.

Carina.

Baby...

baby, you wouldn't have to worry about money,

would you,

if you were a partner in a fat old law firm?

And you could have a partnership in his law firm...

That's what Neil Howard said.

- Neil Howard? - Mm-hmm.

You know I'm working on a case against Brady Duncan

and you know that Howard represents Brady Duncan.

And you spoke to him about a partnership for me?

But, baby, I was only trying to help.

Carina, do you realize the position you've put me in?

How stupid can you get?

Carina, I'm sorry, I didn't... Carina!

My wife Mrs. Duncan.

- How do you do? - Hello.

Curt Ordway.

Mr. Ordway is general manager

of my company Allied Pharmaceuticals.

Now, since you've seen fit to barge in on us

at this rather unusual hour,

I take it your business is urgent.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were entertaining,

or I would have...

What is it you wish, Mr. Germaine?

Mr. Duncan, why did you deliberately maneuver me

into a compromising conflict of interests?

Conflict of interests?

Trying to buy me off

through your lawyer Neil Howard

with an offer of a partnership in his firm.

- Why, you impertinent... - Curt.

Were you afraid the D.A.'s office was going

to throw the book at you?

For criminal fraud,

Jack Randall's groundless accusations?

Hardly, Mr. Germaine.

As for any offer made to you,

I neither authorized, suggested,

or was even aware of any such offer,

and I suspect the same will be true of Mr. Howard.

Neil needs another partner like a hole in the head.

I assume you're a lawyer

and don't need to be reminded about defamation.

This is not the privileged arena of a courtroom.

Exactly, Mr. Germaine.

This is my home.

I suggest you leave it... now.

Neil Howard... suppose we see what his attitude is.

Mr. Howard, admit it.

You did speak to Carina Wileen

about me and about a partnership.

You surprise me.

I would have imagined that would be the last thing in the world

you'd want me to discuss openly.

Don't you have the situation a little reversed, Mr. Howard?

Offering a bribe to a public officer is a felony.

I have the situation reversed?

Come on, now, let's not play games.

I've been decent enough to keep quiet about it until now,

but it also happens to be a felony for a public officer

to solicit a bribe.

What?

I met Carina Wileen once,

a few days ago, at a cocktail party.

She sought me out to deliver a message...

That Larry Germaine was interested enough

in a law firm partnership

to make it worth my and Mr. Duncan's time to consider.

- That's a lie. - Larry.

Have you any way of proving that statement, Mr. Howard?

I suggest you find out if I'm lying by asking the, uh, lady,

that is, if you can sober her up long enough.

Why, you...

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

He's lying, I swear.

There's not a word of truth to it.

He's only lying and covering up to protect himself.

Don't you understand, Larry?

You've left me no choice.

You've compromised yourself and you've compromised this office.

As of now you're off the Duncan case

and all the rest of your cases.

Mr. Burger, please, all you've got to do is ask her.

You're on suspension, pending a full hearing by the board.

I know you've been out of the office

because of your accident, Mr. Mason.

We appreciate your coming here.

That's all right.

Your mother said you've been trying to locate Carina Wileen.

All day.

She's just disappeared into thin air.

Mr. Mason, I swear to you,

outside of discovery procedures, I have had absolutely no contact

with any principal in the fraud case.

Either Howard's lying or Carina is.

I did not solicit a bribe.

It is serious, isn't it, Mr. Mason?

Serious enough to cost your son his job,

his license to practice law.

And a prison sentence.

No, don't tell me, I know.

You play with matches, little boy, and you get burned.

I'll be happy to represent you at your hearing, Mr. Germaine,

but I'll need a lot more information.

You'd better come down to the office with me.

I'll have Paul Drake start to locate Carina Wileen.

This girl... she could hurt Larry, Mr. Mason?

If she does substantiate Neil Howard's story,

whatever her motive, yes, she could hurt him.

Don't worry, it'll be all right.

I'll come back and see you later.

We'll do our best, Mrs. Germaine.

Good night.

What are you doing here?

It's almost time for the show.

That, that woman...

She's sitting at one of the ringside tables

alone and very drunk.

You get ready to go on.

I'll be right with you.

♪♪

Voodoo, sticking pins in dolls, snake worship.

Are you trying to tell me

that's what put Carina Wileen here in the hospital?

No, Paul, I'm asking you to do a little research on the subject.

Okay, what do I do, grab a nonstop broomstick to Haiti?

I suggest more conventional transportation

to Hancock Park and the Los Angeles County Museum.

See Mr. Kenneth, the deputy director.

If there are any answers he doesn't have, he'll find them.

How is she?

Good morning, Perry,

- I'm glad you're here. - Good morning, Hamilton.

She's very near death, I'm afraid, Larry.

She's still unconscious, in a coma.

She'll be kept here under close surveillance.

Surveillance?

Well, what is it, what's wrong?

The doctors aren't sure yet.

They're still making more tests.

But why surveillance if she's sick from natural causes?

That's just it, Larry, she's not sick from natural causes.

She's here as a result of an accident maybe,

possibly even a suicide try,

but most probably she's here as a result of an attempted murder.

Voodoo is an unusual and little understood mixture,

Mr. Drake, a mixture of religion,

primitive spiritualism, and animistic beliefs,

and more, much more...

Uh, mental therapy, hope, the will to live,

release from the grim realities of life.

Realities?

Someone sticks a knife in a rag doll,

then a curvy blonde doll takes a step into nowhere.

Some realities.

Werewolves, magic incantations.

And snakes.

Let's not forget snake worship.

The loa of the Damballah Wedo...

Personal possession by the voodoo snake god.

You know the origin of that god, Mr. Drake?

Nope.

The serpent in the Garden of Eden.

You're kidding.

In showbiz patois, Mr. Drake, I kid you not.

What's more, there's nothing particularly mystical or unreal

about your so-called fatal fetish.

Now, let me get this straight.

I stick a pin in a doll, you get a stomachache,

and there's nothing at all mysterious about it?

Not when you realize what's actually happening.

Then it's not the pin or the knife in the doll?

Hardly.

You see, that's all purely diversionary.

Voodoo black magic, Mr. Drake,

is accomplished by means of poison,

slow-acting poison.

There's no possibility of a misunderstanding, Mr. Randall?

None.

Brady Duncan defrauded me,

cheated me out of a valuable formula,

and he's not going to luck out

- this time. - Luck out?

Yeah, he's got a reputation for all kinds of good luck,

like seven years ago in New Orleans.

He was vice president of Allied, in charge of the research lab.

Then, Brady Duncan's a chemist?

One of the best in pharmaceuticals.

He was running tests one night on a new process

in the New Orleans lab when the company president walked in.

Walked in, was carried out dead.

Mr. Randall, are you trying to say that...?

No, it was nothing like that.

Don't get me wrong.

It was an accident.

Equipment blew up.

Those things happen... Nobody's fault...

But here's the lucky bit.

The president had left some papers in his car outside,

and like a good little vice president,

Brady Duncan went out to get them.

And got off without a scratch

while the president was killed in the explosion.

Lucky, see?

But that's only half of it.

The company general manager, who should have taken over,

was tied up in Europe.

Lucky Brady Duncan... He was there.

They made him the president.

The word around town

is that Duncan's an outstanding president.

Allied's in good shape.

If Brady Duncan has stolen every process they own

like he's stolen mine, that's not hard to figure, is it?

Excuse me.

Randall lab.

This is Jack Randall.

What?

Why, sure, uh, I guess so.

All right, tomorrow.

Yeah.

Well, that was Neil Howard, Allied's, uh, lawyer.

I'm meeting him tomorrow.

President of the company has offered me full settlement

plus damages and a continuing royalty.

Maybe you were wrong about Duncan.

Um, Brady Duncan is no longer president of Allied.

The offer came from a man by the name of Curt Ordway.

Brady did a lot of his work here at home.

Mrs. Duncan has given us permission

to go through his papers.

And did you find something that changed the facts

in the Jack Randall fraud matter?

Are you representing Randall?

No, I represent Larry Germaine,

who certainly cannot be considered unaffected

by that fraud action.

Well, our offer to Randall is without prejudice, Counselor,

and the settlement will stipulate

that there is no admission of fraud.

Obviously a misunderstanding.

Jack Randall's process is excellent.

We have no desire to deprive him

of equitable compensation for it.

This, uh, misunderstanding... Was it Brady Duncan's?

Let's just call it a symptom

of his developing illness, Mr. Mason,

the illness that prompted the Allied board of directors

to accept Mr. Duncan's resignation

and replace him with Curt Ordway.

If you don't mind, I'd like

to discuss Brady Duncan's misunderstanding

with Brady Duncan.

Of course, Counselor.

Brady has been hospitalized,

suffering from a severe physical and mental breakdown,

and under heavy sedation.

Is there, uh, anything else, Mr. Mason?

A man can't think straight with a crooked tie.

The arm feel any better inside that cast?

Well, it is frustrating

to have an itch you can't get at to scratch.

That's better.

How'd you do at the hospital?

I'll bet the doctors wouldn't let you in to see Duncan.

Well, it wasn't so much the doctors as Mrs. Duncan.

Get a rundown on Carina yet, Paul?

Partly.

She blew into town about seven years ago

and moved right into that lush and very expensive penthouse,

and the young lady has... if you'll pardon the expression...

No visible means of support.

Not if you keep your eyes open.

Meow.

Officially unemployed

but she's still able to afford that penthouse.

Plus an expensive wardrobe and an expensive way of living.

In Carina, some unnamed benefactor

has himself a rather, uh, expensive hobby.

Maybe she inherited the money

or, or earned it before she came here.

A so-called model from New Orleans?

We checked.

No on both counts, beautiful.

Any idea who the benefactor is?

Not a whisper... We're still digging.

What about her physical condition?

Well, there's good and bad news on that.

If Larry isn't afraid of what Carina might say,

the good news is that the doctors figure

she'll be out of that coma by morning.

Mm-hmm, and the bad news?

Carina evidently suffers from some allergies

and takes antihistamines every night.

The police checked the bottle of antihistamine pills and...

And found something substituted in their place.

A barbiturate.

Sleeping pills?

That would hardly kill her unless in large doses.

Well, no, repeated small doses of slow-acting barbiturate

can accumulate in the body and be highly toxic,

depress the central nervous system.

As does alcohol, and together they're dynamite,

and you don't have to be a detective

to know that Carina was an alcoholic.

Then, Burger was right.

Somebody was trying to poison her.

As Mr. Kenneth at the museum put it,

"Voodoo black magic is accomplished

by means of poison, slow-acting poison."

Mother, I...

Agnes, Agnes, I'm sorry for what's happened to us.

I-I really didn't mean to...

I guess I learned the hard way.

Agnes, please.

That's Mother's costume.

I'm taking her place tonight.

We've done it before.

What is it, Larry, what's wrong?

I got a call from a guy down at the office.

He said that Carina Wileen was being poisoned with barbital.

But that's...

That's what my mother uses, yes.

Sometimes you make me furious, Larry Germaine.

So what if Mignon does take barbital?

So do other people, thousands and thousands of people.

Where is my mother?

Well, I think she... Where is she?

Well, she left suddenly, about half an hour ago, in a hurry.

Larry, oh, Larry, I'm frightened.

Excuse me.

- How is he? - Sound asleep.

Why don't you run along home, Mrs. Duncan?

We'll call you if you're needed.

No, thank you, I'll stay.

Uh, care for one of these magazines?

No, no, I'll be all right.

Excuse me.

Officer!

Officer, come here!

There's a phone in 204.

Call down to the desk quick.

Mr. Mason, I was given to understand

you were counsel for the accused.

May it please the court,

the accused has seen fit to discharge me.

Very well, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Germaine, is it your desire

to have some other attorney represent you?

We can postpone the preliminary examination

until such time as counsel of your choice is present

and you've conferred with him.

You're entitled to a six-day delay.

Your Honor, I am aware of my right to counsel.

I waive such right

and choose to appear in propria persona.

Larry, this isn't a traffic citation.

This is a capital offense, this is murder.

You're a fool to try to represent yourself.

That's my right and my decision.

Counsel is waived.

Mr. Germaine, I take it you've received a true copy

of the complaint filed against you,

or do you wish it read here in court?

I have received and read

a true copy of the complaint, Your Honor.

Well, since you've waived counsel,

I assume you're pleading innocent.

Under the provisions of the code, Your Honor,

I reserve the right to enter my plea

at my arraignment prior to trial.

Accordingly I waive further preliminary examination

and do not enter a plea on the record.

Mr. Mason, I went over Mignon's costume

before I started putting it on

the night Carina Wileen was killed.

I checked the belt and the dagger sheath.

That sheath was empty.

I swear to you, that dagger was gone

before Larry came into the dressing room.

He did not take that dagger

when he left the dressing room to go to the hospital.

He's obviously stalling.

Waiving counsel and a hearing, withholding his plea

are just attempts to buy time.

But why if he's innocent?

Don't you see?

He's trying to protect her.

I'm sure of it, Mr. Mason.

Larry must be afraid that maybe his mother killed that woman.

Larry won't do or say anything to clear himself

until he sees her and finds out how deeply she's involved.

Yes, Gertie.

Just a minute.

It's Paul.

Go ahead, Paul.

I was finally able to track down Mignon Germaine.

The night of the murder, she left town,

took a plane to New Orleans.

I've got some men there looking for her.

What, now?

But I don't... All right.

I'll grab the next plane to New Orleans.

I'll try and find her and I'll try and bring her back.

Oh, I tell you, they've bent over backwards

at Allied to please me.

Even set up a lab for me, beautiful lab.

I'm delighted things have worked out so well for you.

"Well" is hardly the word for it.

And just a few days ago

you were involved in what looked like, uh,

difficult and protracted litigation

with both a criminal and civil suit against Allied.

Or had you filed a civil suit?

No, swore out a complaint for criminal fraud.

Figured I'd have a stronger civil suit

after a conviction on the criminal charges.

Was that your attorney's advice?

No, I didn't talk to an attorney.

Look, Mr. Mason, are you trying to suggest

there's something wrong in what I did?

No, just surprised, that's all, Mr. Randall,

And what could a lawyer have told me?

That it also happens to be a crime to maliciously swear out

a criminal complaint, an abuse of process,

when you know the charge is false.

You never intended to file a civil suit.

All you ever planned to do

was to bring pressure against Brady Duncan.

That's a lie.

Mr. Randall...

did you ever work for Allied Pharmaceuticals?

Suppose I did?

So what?

Could it have been seven years ago

when Duncan's predecessor, the company president,

was killed by that laboratory explosion

in New Orleans?

♪♪

If you've come for me, Mr. Drake,

I'm ready to go back now.

Mr. Mason, if you don't mind,

I'd like to talk with my mother first alone.

Larry, your mother took off in a plane for New Orleans

half an hour before Carina Wileen was killed.

Now, suppose we proceed with the business

of getting you out of trouble.

We haven't much time.

Just listen to everything she has to say.

We can discuss it afterwards.

When we left the hospital,

after Hamilton Burger had told us

that the girl was close to death,

I went back to the club, to my dressing room.

The wanga... the doll fetish... Was gone.

So was the dagger.

One of the waiters might have taken it.

I'd have to wait to find that out,

and then I remembered hearing

that the girl had come from New Orleans.

I remembered stories of black magic and Haiti, of poison.

I telephoned friends in New Orleans.

But she wasn't killed by voodoo.

She was killed here, not in New Orleans,

and killed with a dagger in the heart.

My friends had no knowledge of any voodoo,

but they had learned something about the girl herself,

about the girl and a man... a man

who had worked for a big chemical company.

Allied.

Mr. Mason, their New Orleans laboratory.

Mother, his name, did they tell you his name?

They didn't know his name.

So you went to New Orleans?

No, not then.

I talked to the waiters first.

None of the waiters knew anything about the dagger,

but one waiter could remember having served

a customer and his guests that night,

an old customer he knew very well,

a man by the name of Brady Duncan.

Mother, in Now Orleans,

Carina and the man from the pharmaceutical company...

Did you find out who that was?

I didn't learn all I hoped to,

but I knew those people would tell me

things they wouldn't tell others, particularly the police.

During my long career I have made many good friends,

and I learned that the man who knew Carina Wileen

in New Orleans was Brady Duncan.

Mr. Randall, would you sit down, please?

Thank you.

You've withdrawn your action

against Allied Pharmaceuticals and Mr. Brady Duncan.

Is that right?

That's right.

It was all sort of a-a misunderstanding.

Just a misunderstanding.

Brady Duncan was ill, you know.

It's kind of rough to prosecute a man

who really didn't realize what he was doing.

Mr. Randall, are you sure it was Brady Duncan

who didn't realize what he was doing,

or was it possibly you?

I beg your pardon?

Under section 518 of the penal code, Mr. Randall,

obtaining property from another person with their consent

but where that consent is induced

by the illegal use of fear... That's extortion, Mr. Randall.

Extortion?

Using due process and the authority

of this office,

instituting a false action, threatening a prosecution

in order to obtain a payoff for yourself.

That's extortion, Mr. Randall.

Then, I-I want a lawyer.

I'm not gonna talk unless I have a lawyer.

Yes.

Send him right in, please.

That's extortion, Mr. Randall.

I'm sorry to disturb you, Hamilton.

That's all right, Perry, you might

just as well be in on this now.

You told my girl you had something urgent

to see me about?

Larry Germaine is withdrawing his waiver

of a preliminary examination

and is prepared to plead not guilty.

Get me Judge Penner quickly, please.

One of the purposes of a preliminary hearing...

Your Honor, this statement is simply for the record...

Is to weed out groundless and unsupported charges

involving grave offenses

and to protect, in such cases, the improperly accused

from the degradation and the expense of a criminal trial.

In a hearing like this, there are no fixed rules

regarding the sequence or order

in which witnesses must be called to the stand,

and in this case,

with the prior approval of the court,

prosecution has stipulated with defense

to an unorthodox procedure...

Namely, defense counsel will examine four witnesses

before the prosecution develops its own case.

Call the first witness.

Mrs. Duncan, you were present with your husband

in the hospital the night Carina Wileen was murdered?

Yes.

In attendance on him but not with him?

That's right.

You were also present with your husband at the Club Caribbe

the night a dagger was put through a doll

at Carina Wileen's table,

and Miss Wileen collapsed?

Yes.

At the moment she collapsed, or shortly after that moment,

did you or any of the people present leave your table

to go toward Carina Wileen?

I, I didn't leave the table.

Neil Howard, Curt Ordway,

and my husband rushed over

toward the table where she'd fallen.

It was there at the club that my husband became ill.

Did you, approximately seven years ago, leave your husband,

who was then working in New Orleans,

take up residence in Reno, Nevada?

Yes, I did.

For the purpose of obtaining a divorce?

We had a misunderstanding,

but we reconciled our difficulties.

Misunderstanding as to what, another woman?

Yes.

Who was that woman?

Carina Wileen.

No.

I never for one moment believed that there was any basis

for either a criminal or a civil suit for fraud

in the transaction between Brady Duncan and Jack Randall.

In deference to the privileged nature of a communication

between attorney and client, may I ask, Mr. Howard,

since your attitude was that Randall had no case,

did you then recommend the settlement with him?

Quite the contrary.

I would have fought the matter through the courts

and cross-complained for malicious prosecution.

I understand from Mr. Randall that Curt Ordway,

as the new president of Allied,

ordered the settlement.

Well, that's not quite accurate.

It is true that Mr. Ordway worked out the details

of the settlement and then approved it,

but he didn't originally order the settlement.

Who did?

Just before he became ill,

that settlement was ordered by Brady Duncan.

Brady had been complaining about loss of memory,

about increasing physical disabilities.

He did have a history of cardiac difficulties.

No, I wasn't at all surprised,

Mr. Mason, when the excitement in that nightclub

brought on another heart attack

and he ended up being taken to the hospital.

He'd evidently realized that his illness

might someday soon incapacitate him

and had prepared his resignation

and his recommendations for a replacement.

He recommended you?

It was his recommendation that I succeed him.

When he became ill, we telephoned New York.

There was an immediate emergency meeting

of the board of directors.

Brady Duncan's resignation and recommendation

were both accepted.

That night at the Club Caribbe,

you, Neil Howard, and Brady Duncan went

to Carina Wileen when she collapsed?

Just toward her, that's all.

We got as far as the table.

By then there was such a crowd milling around, trying to help

or see her, we couldn't get any closer.

There was a doll and a dagger on that table.

Do you remember seeing that doll and that dagger?

Well, I'm not at all sure about the dagger.

But I do remember seeing that doll.

On the table?

No, somebody was tearing it to pieces,

to shreds, throwing the scraps away.

Who was that somebody?

Brady Duncan.

Your Honor, we checked carefully

with Mr. Duncan's attending physicians.

He is ill.

His condition is described

as "bordering on a nervous breakdown,"

but at the request of my office, I had him examined

by a medical specialist,

and this specialist agrees with Mr. Duncan's own doctors

that Mr. Duncan is competent to testify at this hearing

without risk to his health.

Mr. Duncan has agreed to testify here.

I now call Brady Duncan.

I was foolish, I... found myself infatuated

with a young, breathtakingly attractive girl.

These things happen,

but I broke it off cleanly

and I saved our marriage

and I did not see that girl for seven years,

not until the other night at the club when she collapsed.

That was when you picked up the doll and tore it to pieces?

Well, that was a ridiculous, juvenile thing to do.

I can't explain it except that I was, I was sick.

Can you explain what happened to the dagger

pinning that doll to the table?

I saw no dagger.

At the hospital...

did you leave your room by the balcony,

cross to the balcony of the waiting room,

deliberately start a fire there

to divert the policeman, then go by way

of the balcony into Carina Wileen's room,

and, with the dagger from that table,

stab Carina Wileen in the heart?

No.

No, no.

You hadn't seen Carina Wileen for seven years.

But did you nonetheless have a continuing contact with her?

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

Haven't you, through a third party

and a fictitious trust account in your company,

been diverting to Carina Wileen

a specific amount of money each and every month?

Let me now warn you, there are documents and depositions

to substantiate this.

I arranged for monthly payments for her, yes.

Monthly payments.

$1,500 per month,

amounting to $18,000 per year.

For the past seven years, a total of $126,000.

For what, Mr. Duncan,

a romantic fling your wife already knew all about,

or was the money a form of blackmail?

No, now, you must believe me, it was not blackmail.

What was it, then, insurance?

Seven years ago in New Orleans, you weren't in the laboratory

when the company president dropped in.

You didn't go out to his car

for papers as you claimed afterwards.

You had started a dangerous experiment

and you left the equipment unattended.

You were with Carina Wileen

while you should have been in that laboratory,

and when you remembered, when you rushed back,

realizing what might have happened, it had happened.

Just as you arrived, there was an explosion...

An explosion that killed the company president.

Well, Mr. Duncan?

If she had ever told that I was with her...

I'd have been fired...

Fired and charged with criminal negligence.

She never even read a newspaper.

She didn't know what had happened

at the lab that same night.

Don't you see?

I... She didn't know.

I had no earthly reason to kill her.

She had never pressured you because she never realized

the value of what she knew, but someone else drew

that information from Carina Wileen, added other facts to it,

and then that someone else did pressure you.

Pressure from two directions...

The false complaint by Jack Randall

and the truth of what happened in New Orleans.

And didn't that someone else pressure you

right out of your job?

I had to say I was ill.

I had to resign.

Carina never cared why.

She just accepted money from you for seven years.

That why was a sword over your head

but became more than a sword over your blackmailer's head.

She knew?

Or suspected...

enough, at least, to start adding the pieces together,

and the pieces added up to money,

more money than she was already getting.

The tables turned.

Now the individual pressuring you was being blackmailed,

so he substituted those pills,

hoping her death would be accepted as accidental.

But she didn't die.

She was coming out of that coma.

That's when he used the dagger...

The dagger he had already taken in that nightclub...

Used the dagger to murder Carina Wileen.

When you picked up that dagger,

after you had begun to poison her

with the substitute barbiturates,

did you pick it up, Mr. Ordway, planning to use it to kill her?

Curt?

She'd been drinking heavily.

That's how I was able to find out

what had happened in New Orleans.

Then she began to guess,

to ask me for more money.

They had no right, Brady, to make you president.

That job was mine!

Seven years.

Seven years I waited.

In the nightclub, when that dancer...

when she put the dagger in that doll,

I knew then what I'd have to do

and I did it!

Everything that happened was because of Curt Ordway's

constant pressure on Brady Duncan.

But why did Carina lie to Neil Howard

about my asking for a partnership?

Well, apparently Ordway had found out

that you were going to recommend,

quite rightly incidentally,

that the criminal action for fraud against Duncan be dropped,

so, in order to keep the pressure on Duncan,

he had Carina

deliberately compromise you with that phony story to Howard.

But why did she play along?

Well, Carina had finally realized

the importance of what she knew

when she realized that Ordway had found out

that Brady Duncan had been with her

instead of in that New Orleans laboratory.

You see, Carina couldn't prevent Ordway

from getting Duncan out of the company and taking his place,

and, after all, Brady had been her, uh, meal ticket.

So she decided to take out a new annuity

from the new president-to-be of the company, Curt Ordway,

and at the same time she started blackmailing him,

she was also helping him take over.

In other words, Carina was just sort of insuring

the financial status of her new benefactor.

Shh, this is where Agnes comes on.

Uh-oh, here we go again.