All language subtitles for Perry Mason S08E21 The Case of the Fatal Fetish.DVDRip.NonHI.en.CBS

♪♪

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.