Original subtitles

What kind of man are you Mr. Mason?

PERRY MASON: A piss-poor one, if I were to be honest.

Let's just say I'm trying to make up for it.

♪ ("PERRY MASON" THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪

Emily!

The Radiant Assembly might not have your

best interest at heart.

- No one there has ever hurt me. - Thank you.

How much debt, would these records say

that the Church was carrying?

- Just over 100,000 dollars. - (CROWD GASPS)

Mr. Baggerly, did you give the Radiant Assembly the money?

I did not.

MASON: Charlie Dodson is kidnapped for an attempted extortion...

(SCREAMS)

...of one hundred thousand dollars.

I can't get on the stand. Mason will tear me apart.

He can't call you, if he can't find you.

PAUL DRAKE: Novak and Cerakney.

They had a kid with them, wouldn't stop crying.

A third man shows up with his wife,

then no more crying.

Ennis. What's happens to an infant nursing

from a junked-up mother?

ENNIS: They'd suffocate.

Don't do this.

My baby.

Charlie Dodson lives.

You did this. Alice! Alice!

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

MALE ACOLYTE: We have ten cars driving the city

looking for her, Mother McKeegan.

She's wearing a white robe and has a bloody nose.

How hard can this be?

You need to hold still, Mother McKeegan.

- (BABY CRYING) - You need to work faster.

It'll scar if it's not done properly.

Do we know where Emily Dodson is?

There was a lot of confusion at the cemetery.

(BABY CRYING)

- Elder Seidel? - No.

(GROANS)

Oh, for heaven's sakes, bring me the baby.

- (BABY CONTINUES CRYING) - (MUTTERS)

Okay.

Okay.

Come on. Come on.

Okay.

- (BABY QUIETS) - (EXHALES)

(SIGHS)

Find Sister.

And get word to Emily Dodson.

(SOFTLY) Okay. It's okay.

Every mother needs her child.

Hmm?

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Miss Pitlick gave the okay.

Okay. I'm gonna bunk in with Hazel.

You can sleep here in my room.

Look, it'll help with the swelling.

- I don't care about my eye. - I know.

But just think about how it will look in court.

In court?

Of course, no, you can't have the crazy lady looking crazy.

I may have a vanishing cream and foundation combo

for that shiner.

Where is my son, Miss Street?

What happened to his body?

DELLA STREET: I don't know, I...

I think...

I think maybe someone, most likely, moved him.

Long before Easter.

- Long... - Maybe it'll be a... a relief...

when they send me to jail.

The trial isn't over.

I know who the jury sees, Della.

What they think of me.

You know, I'd probably think the same thing.

But I wanted my baby back.

I wanted him back...

more than anything in the world.

I know.

I just wish that you'd known me

sometime before all this.

'Cause I think that you would say that...

that I was a damn good mother.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony

you're about to give will be the truth,

the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,

- so help you God? - I do.

PERRY MASON: Detective Ennis.

- You ever killed a man? - MAYNARD BARNES: Objection.

- Irrelevant. Badgering. - JUDGE FRED WRIGHT: Sustained.

DETECTIVE ENNIS: It's okay, Mr. Barnes, Judge.

The answer is yes. I killed three men

while overseas serving my country.

You were a soldier in the army?

Just like you, Mr. Mason.

And when you got back, you got a job as a patrolman

- for the LAPD? - I believe in service.

MASON: Soldier, cop, and now detective.

That first kill, you get 'em with your rifle, or was it up close?

- JUDGE WRIGHT: Mr. Mason. - Withdrawn. Withdrawn.

So, you were the first detective on the scene

the night that Gannon, Sarecki, and Nowak

delivered Charlie dead in the arms of my client, is that correct?

EMILY DODSON: Charlie!

♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

ENNIS: I was. I was at my Elks Lodge,

which happens to be one building over

from where your client was, uh...

How'd she tell it?

Waiting.

MASON: So you hear the commotion at your Elks Lodge,

and you go running down the street

to see if you can help, which you do.

I'm a cop, uh, on or off the clock.

Did you nab him in the act?

ENNIS: The kidnappers were smart.

A busy area, good escape routes...

Well, how smart could they be? They were dead the next day.

The location was smart.

And I'm sure your client did her part to, uh, sell it.

She's a million-dollar weeper, this one.

(GALLERY WHISPERING)

Your Honor, I ask you to declare Detective Ennis

- a hostile witness... - BARNES: Objection, Your Honor.

There's only one hostile man here.

Case law is clear on this, Mr. Barnes.

Let the record reflect that the witness is hostile.

MASON: Thank you, Your Honor. Detective Ennis,

when the kidnappers met

to divvy up the ransom, I'm... I'm curious,

how do you suppose that George Gannon,

God-fearing, gun-toting accountant

double-crossed two lifetime professional hoods?

ENNIS: Caught them off guard, I'd say.

MASON: But how did he drive across town

with a bullet in his shoulder and a busted hip?

Objection, Your Honor.

Oh, my mistake, (LAUGHS) I'm so sorry.

I got my autopsies confused.

JUDGE WRIGHT: One more like that, Mr. Mason...

So, Two-Gun Gannon, back at his bungalow,

regrets the whole thing.

He burns the money in the fireplace,

types a suicide letter, sets the letter down,

then he shoots himself in the head with a shotgun.

Because...

- because what? - (GUNSHOT)

Because the gun he used on Sarecki and Nowak was undignified?

I didn't live in the man's mind. I just saw the mess he made.

But when you come across a crime scene like that,

does it remind you of the six men that you killed?

I said three, not six!

Strike that from the record, please.

- (GAVEL BANGS) - Denver, August 1914,

you were working as a strikebreaker

for a company called Colorado Fuel and Iron.

You're all over the place, Mason.

You helped put down workers at the Ludlow Massacre.

I protected real Americans who don't like communists.

MASON: This is a list of senior management at Colorado Fuel and Iron.

Could you please read out this name for me, please?

- What name? - This one right here.

- Eric Q. Seidel. - Eric Q. Seidel.

Senior VP of Colorado Fuel and Iron, and currently

elder in charge of finances at the Radiant Assembly of God,

and George Gannon's boss.

I have two witnesses that put Sarecki and Nowak

in Denver as well.

All four in the same place at the same time.

So tell me, Detective Ennis, how was the Los Angeles reunion?

- Objection! Argumentative. - JUDGE WRIGHT: Sustained.

MASON: We have two further eyewitnesses

that place you at a Chinatown brothel,

picking up a prostitute by the name of Tang Yin,

driving her to an auto court in Newhall

for the sole purpose

of nursing Charlie Dodson.

The tragedy is, this young lady is so high on heroin,

Charlie asphyxiated on her poisoned milk.

- Come on. This is ridiculous! - MASON: This is an affidavit

from a private investigator by the name of Pete Strickland.

Puts you at the same brothel,

the same night that Tang Yin suddenly overdosed.

And then your old pal, Eric Q. Seidel,

suddenly disappears just as he is set to testify

about financial irregularities

at the Radiant Assembly of God.

Sarecki, Nowak, Gannon, Eric Seidel, Tang Yin,

Charlie Dodson.

And the one person who connects them all

is Detective Joseph Ennis.

(GALLERY MURMURING)

It won't work, Mason.

- You kidnapped Charlie Dodson. - HAMILTON BURGER: He's not gonna confess.

You stood over his body and you said,

"Now, let's just sew up his eyes and get the cash!"

- The kid was already dead! - He's not gonna confess!

I'm not done yet!

BURGER: No one confesses on the stand.

There's a reason why Barnes didn't call him!

No one ever confesses on the stand.

Oh, my God. All right. Okay.

Even if I come up short, I can make a circumstantial case.

How many of those exhibits that you were waving around

are legitimate?

- Uh... - Della?

He made up one of them and fudged two.

BURGER: Mm-hmm.

And Judge Wright is not going to let you turn Ennis hostile,

or let you get away with half of that bullshit

that you just tried.

Maybe don't bring up the second autopsy.

Did you feel like you're about to break?

- No. - No?

You were drowning. I threw you a water donut.

BURGER: Rest the case.

What?

You've got the jury thinking about the hundred grand

that the church needed for their loan.

Introduce the general ledger that shows

they got close to a hundred grand in "donations"

around the time that the ransom note was left.

Call no one else.

That is gutless.

That's reasonable doubt.

Oh, my God. All right. Okay. Look, I know

we've all had a particularly fucked up Easter Sunday.

-(DELLA CLEARS THROAT) -MASON: Almost killed in a near riot.

We're in court tomorrow.

He is a detective that has killed the witnesses

that can finger him for the same crime

he himself is investigating!

We have to go after him!

Come on!

(SIGHS) I... (GROANS)

Well, I guess you could...

introduce the Denver affidavits,

the one from Sister Alice refuting the jail matron.

But then you'd have to get Barnes

to stipulate to admissibility, which he won't do.

Then, you'd have to call Sister Alice.

You could call Emily.

Yeah, let's do that.

Let's call the woman who just signed over

her infant's rotting body

to Our Sister of the Stolen Nurse's Outfit

so we could put her on a plate for Barnes to gobble the fuck up!

Let's absolutely do that.

- All respects, Della... - (SIGHS)

...I would call Ennis before I'd call Emily.

And that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

And since there's no more air to breathe

with his ego in the room, I bid you all a good night.

He's right.

You don't go in unless you got him.

And you really don't got him.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

DELLA: You've been out here for ages.

MASON: (GROANS) I'm trying to clear my head.

DELLA: Is it working?

MASON: Well, not with you talking.

I think you should put Emily on the stand.

She deserves a chance to...

MASON: She deserves to walk free,

hopefully, into a clean, well-lit asylum.

DELLA: She's as clear-headed as I've ever seen her.

A little raw from the riot, but she wants to be heard.

(SCOFFS)

Your arrogant prick friend Burger is right.

I am gonna rest the case. We don't have Ennis.

He will deny everything. I'll just look desperate.

So I'm just gonna stand in front of Barnes

and that fucking dinosaur judge and say, "You know what?

I give up. Let's just hang her and go home for dinner."

I tried prepping her.

You did w... You... you tried to prep her?

We talked. She's ready.

She's ready to take the stand.

MASON: Did you and Hazel hash this one out?

-No. (SCOFFS) -Is this the collective wisdom of the coven?

I have watched a parade of men get up there and demean her.

- Ask the right questions, and they'll see through it. - That's what this is.

- Oh, that's what this is about. - They'll give her a chance.

This is just a crusade for you. And what? Emily's what? Your proxy?

No, that is not what I meant, Perry.

Yes, it is, because you see a woman being "demeaned by men,"

you think it's about you. Guess what? It's not.

And I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, sweetheart,

but padding around your little boarding house

with your little hand model girlfriend

isn't the same as being framed for killing your fucking kid.

You didn't think I knew about Hazel?

I figured you knew.

I just didn't think you'd throw it in my face like that.

I'll type up the questions for you,

in case you wake up and realize...

I'm right.

(EXHALES)

PAUL DRAKE: Ain't gonna be too much longer.

CLARA DRAKE: The newspaper here made it sound pretty bad

for your white lady.

If you know, why'd you ask?

CLARA: 'Cause I wanna know what you think about it.

I'm just trying to see this thing through.

CLARA: And I'm trying to figure out where my home is.

Enough, Clara, enough of that.

This man, Ennis, you don't understand,

if he wants you gone, you're gone.

I had to keep you safe, keep our child safe.

CLARA: Well, I hope it was worth it.

Yeah.

I love you, babe.

CLARA: Night.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

So the kid snuffed it sucking a milkmaid's tit?

Yeah.

- And the hooker's dead? - Mm-hmm.

- And Seidel's what? - Seidel's dead.

Yeah, probably.

We were slow.

And he was smart.

- I'm just about out of moves. - Don't sound much like you.

Yeah, well, that's the fuck of this lawyering thing.

You can have all the truth on your side,

but if you can't prove it,

if you can't hold it in your hand,

it don't exist.

You said "just about" out of moves.

(SIGHS) Yeah.

Well, seems like you got this hotshot negro investigator now.

Don't see why you don't put him on it.

He can't do it.

And there's nobody else I can ask.

So you're just gonna race past an apology, huh?

- "Do me this one, Strick." - I know you've been busting ass.

I ain't been myself.

Or maybe this is just you in a suit.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(SIGHS)

So, what's the move?

Dinner's been on the table for half an hour now.

MATTHEW DODSON: I'm not keeping you from it.

It is the day after Christmas.

-I don't understand. -That's right. That's right, Emily.

It's the day after Christmas. It's a regular day

with regular things that have to be done at the store, okay?

Okay. I'll... I'll put a plate in the oven.

No, put it in the fridge. I'm gonna be home late.

EMILY: How late?

♪ ("HEIGH-HO, EVERYBODY, HEIGH-HO" BY RUDY VALLÉE PLAYING)

♪ So I'll just begin it... ♪

Yeah, it's just us chickens tonight.

♪ Heigh-ho, everybody Heigh-ho ♪

(PLATE SHATTERS)

Fuck.

♪ ("LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIES" BY RUDY VALLÉE PLAYING) ♪

(COOING)

EMILY: Hmm. (CHUCKLES)

♪ You work, you save You worry so ♪

♪ But you can't Take your dough ♪

- ♪ When you go, go, go ♪ - ♪ Go, go ♪

(SINGING ALONG) ♪ Life is just a bowl Of cherries ♪

♪ So live and laugh at it all ♪

(CHARLIE COOING)

(WHISTLES, CHUCKLES)

- (CHARLIE BLOWS RASPBERRIES) - (CHUCKLES)

(SOFTLY) And the turtle keeps a shell on his back

so wherever he goes, he's home.

(SMACKS LIPS) Yes.

But who loves you more?

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

(RINGING CONTINUES)

MASON: And that was George calling you?

Yes.

What did he say to you on that call?

EMILY: He told me how much he missed me,

how much he loved me.

I mean, you...

You gotta understand, my husband...

Objection. Narrative.

You... you'll get your chance in a hot minute.

I'm... I'm sorry, Judge?

Thank you. I'm sorry.

You... you were... You were saying your husband...

My husband was gone all the time,

and when he wasn't...

he was...

unkind.

He was the only man I'd ever known,

and so I always thought that...

this was the way of man and wife.

But with George, I...

I felt as though I were...

a... a person.

And now, you know...

It was all a lie.

EMILY: Will you tell me that joke again?

(GIGGLES) Knock, knock.

He kept me on that phone for over an hour that night.

(LAUGHS)

George... (LAUGHS)

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

And he told me he loved me...

while they broke into my home

and stole my son.

(MURMURING)

This is my last question.

(SIGHS)

Emily, did you have anything to do

with your son's kidnapping?

I've realized, Mr. Mason,

that I have only had one love in my life,

and it wasn't Matthew.

It wasn't George.

It...

(VOICE BREAKING) ...was my son.

He was...

my heart.

So, no, I had nothing to do with his kidnapping.

Thank you.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Thank you, Emily.

BARNES: "Take me away, George,

to some island in the ocean,

and set fire to the boat that got us there."

I said a lot of stupid things in those letters.

A more accurate account would have been,

"Take me away, George, to the Star Motel

where we can have sex and I can abandon my boy."

- Objection! - JUDGE WRIGHT: Sustained.

- (GALLERY WHISPERING) - BARNES: Quite right.

It was objected to because it is objectionable.

A married woman fornicating with her lover in one room,

while her infant boy, the only love of her life,

cried out from behind a wall.

Is there a question here, Judge?

BARNES: Yes.

When you weren't having sex with George Gannon in motels,

did you tell him about your husband's money,

Mrs. Dodson?

No. We... We never talked about money.

Yeah, but you told him Matthew was Herman Baggerly's son.

And from that he understood Matthew had access to money.

Well, I didn't think...

- I didn't realize... - Mrs. Dodson,

isn't it true that if George Gannon

hadn't known those facts about Matthew,

he never would have come up with his plan to hurt Charlie?

I... I don't... I don't understand.

Mrs. Dodson, if it hadn't been for your affair,

there never would have been a kidnapping.

(GALLERY MURMURING)

Yes, I suppose that is true.

BARNES: Yes, you abandoned Charlie in his room

to answer the phone call from your lover George,

just as you abandoned him to have sex at the Star Motel.

Did you not fail to prevent the perpetrators

from taking Charlie away, Mrs. Dodson?

He called to distract me.

You failed to stop them, yes or no?

-Yes, but... -Yes. You wanted to get your baby out of the way

so you could run away with this kind man

who made you feel like a person.

EMILY: Stop.

BARNES: Run away to an island in the ocean

and set fire to the boat that got you there.

- Objection! Badgering! - JUDGE WRIGHT: Sustained.

BARNES: You whispered "guilty" at the arraignment.

You confessed at the jailhouse.

Why don't you make it official for the record?

- Objection! - JUDGE WRIGHT: Mr. Barnes!

-Please stop, sir. Please. Please. -(GAVEL BANGS)

(GALLERY MURMURING)

Isn't it your fault Charlie's dead?

Isn't it true, Mrs. Dodson,

that if it hadn't been for your actions,

your perfect Charlie boy would still be alive?

(GALLERY MURMURING)

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

Yes.

Yes.

Well, no more tears for your boy?

All cried out.

Hmm.

You may be excused, Mrs. Dodson.

Bailiff, will you kindly help Mrs. Dodson?

- ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ - (FLASH BULBS POP)

(INDISTINCT CLAMORING)

(CLAMORING CONTINUES)

(CLAMORING FADES)

ENNIS: Quite a show you put on today, Mason.

Real heart-tugger.

Almost made me feel sorry for the murdering little snipe.

You and I both know she's innocent.

Do we?

Gene, ain't he said something in his opening

about catching Charlie's killer?

(CHUCKLES)

(GRUNTS)

DETECTIVE HOLCOMB: You come at my partner again,

they'll find your rat-chewed carcass floating in the sewers.

You got me?

Gene, come on.

See you at the hanging.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(CAR ENGINE REVVING)

(MUTTERING) Phone call. Barbara. Charlie photo. Ransom note.

No, ransom note should be first.

Seven thousand on top of your debt I paid,

and my last bottle of mescal...

- for the bad timing. - I'm busy.

It's a fair price.

It's a fair price and then some, papi.

I'm gonna file a motion to stay on your sales contract.

A motion to delay your closing.

And a motion to cure your title defects.

I'm a lawyer now. So I'll see you in court.

Just take the money.

Well, that would constitute an agreement,

so why don't you fuck off?

(SIGHS)

MASON: Phone call. Barbara. Charlie photo.

There are thirty airfields in Los Angeles right now.

When this prohibition shit is over,

there's only gonna be five of them left.

I'm a wetback and a woman.

I need to stay ahead of the rest of them.

(SIGHS)

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)

Here we go. (SIGHS)

Anyone want any more peas?

I'll take some.

DELLA: The peas are wonderful, June.

JUNE PITLICK: The man at the market wanted to sell me some old cans,

but I knew better.

These are from the new cans.

Did Mr. Mason say I did good today?

He thought you did incredible.

You shined up there.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

In conclusion, gentlemen and ladies of the jury...

Um...

Yeah. To... In summation... In s...

To conclude, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

Mr. Barnes... Mr. Barnes tricked you...

Mr. Barnes has tricked you, sleight of hand.

He made you look...

It was sleight of hand...

Mr. Barnes has made you look at Emily,

when what you should be looking at...

(EXHALES)

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to conclude...

In conclusion, it's all inconclusive.

(EXHALES)

I'm sorry, Charlie boy.

I can't do it.

Charlie Dodson...

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪

On the 26th of December, 1931, the day after Christmas,

a man broke into Emily Dodson's home

and took her child.

We all know what happened next.

I took this photograph

when I was then an investigator on this case.

And I stood over Charlie Dodson's body in...

disbelief.

Because little boys who look like this...

shouldn't end up like this.

(MURMURING)

So what do we do...

when something as horrific as this happens?

Because we have to do something, right?

We have to be able to feel that we can fix this.

So here we are.

You, the jury, me, now the lawyer,

and all of us wanting desperately to fix this.

When I took this photograph...

I have never wanted anything more

than to find those who are responsible

and make them pay.

I wanted... I wanted vengeance for Charlie.

And I wanted to take that act of vengeance into my own hands.

I still do.

And I think... I... I... I hope,

after standing in front of you all these weeks,

you know how I felt...

how I feel.

But here's something maybe you don't know.

If I thought for one second, truthfully,

that Emily Dodson was guilty,

I would walk her to the gallows myself.

If I thought that was the way to fix it,

I would have no choice, because I now stand for the law.

And the law tells me, if you are guilty,

you must pay for your crime.

Emily Dodson is innocent.

-(TYPEWRITER CLACKING) -The District Attorney has done a great job...

A great job of playing to your passions,

tapping in your desire for vengeance...

I'm sorry. Our. Our desire for vengeance.

He's raised public outcry, and then...

he has attacked this woman at every turn.

For what?

For having an affair?

Did he prove that Emily had anything to do with the plot

to kidnap Charlie? No.

Did he prove that Emily had anything to do

with Charlie's murder, the murder of her own son?

No, he did not.

The truth is he did not,

because the truth is she did not.

And the District Attorney knows this.

And so he attacks her because he cannot attack

the truth that Emily Dodson is innocent.

Written above Judge Wright here

are the commandments of this court.

"Find truth, seek justice," in that order,

because you cannot seek justice without first knowing the truth.

And if the truth is hidden or obscured

by distraction or lies,

you'll never find justice, you'll never achieve justice,

and therefore...

you will never fix what happened to Charlie Dodson.

I stood in that morgue on New Year's Eve,

and I wanted blood.

But I stand here today for the law,

and the law tells me I have to be better than that.

We all have to be better than that

because a woman's life is at stake.

And on the 26th of December, 1931,

the day after Christmas,

a man broke into her home and took her son.

He took her heart...

and she'll never get that back.

That's the truth.

All I ask...

is that you are as courageous...

as you are honest in seeking justice.

Thank you.

(GALLERY MURMURING)

The truth, Mr. Mason?

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is...

that woman had sex with Charlie's kidnapper

and left her baby crying in the next room.

The truth is she was arrested for these crimes,

and the truth, Mr. Mason, is...

(SCOFFS) ...she confessed to them.

So, yes, please, ladies and gentlemen,

be honest and courageous in seeking justice

and find that woman...

guilty.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(GROANS)

- It's not your job to feed me. - Oh, I know.

It was an entirely humanitarian impulse.

(SCOFFS)

(SIGHS)

You haven't moved for hours. Thoughts?

I'm thinking Barnes did some damage with Emily.

True.

But we might not have made day three

if we hadn't put her on the stand.

(SIGHS)

I want to apologize for the other night.

DELLA: No, don't.

If we're gonna be working together,

we need to be people who can act abominably on occasion.

You... you wanna do more of this?

I prefer having a job to the alternative.

I like Hazel. A lot.

She's a pip. And it's none of your business.

(DOOR OPENS)

- Jury's done for the night. - (MASON SIGHS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Three days. You think it's a good sign?

E.B. would say...

(IMITATING E.B.) "I'd rather be us than them."

(CHUCKLES)

I think it's more... (CLEARS THROAT)

(IMITATING E.B.) "I'd rather be us than them."

(LAUGHS)

MASON: Hmm.

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

Where the fuck have you been?

Chasing chocolate Easter bunnies?

Had me some sick days coming.

You missed five goddamn shifts this week, Drake.

Had some things to do, Joe.

Joe? Who you calling Joe?

And why the fuck ain't you in uniform?

♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(GALLERY MURMURING)

(INAUDIBLE)

(DOOR OPENS)

BAILIFF: All rise.

The People versus Emily Dodson is back in session.

The Honorable Judge Wright presiding.

Judge, all jurors present.

I've been given a note from the jury.

I'm going to read this note,

then I'm going to say a few things,

and I don't want any disruptions while this happens.

Is that clear?

"We tried our best.

- We are deadlocked." - (GALLERY GASPS, MURMURS)

- JUDGE WRIGHT: Order. Order! - (GAVEL BANGS)

"We cannot come to a decision."

Sit back down!

I appreciate all the hard work you've given this court.

Three weeks away from your families.

Five days of deliberation.

Mr. Foreman, did you write this note?

- Yes, Your Honor. - JUDGE WRIGHT: And can I assume

your fellow jurors know the contents of this note?

- FOREMAN: Yes, Your Honor. - (GAVEL BANGS)

I am declaring a mistrial.

(GALLERY CLAMORING)

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(INAUDIBLE)

Let's get out of here. Come on.

We're not answering anything.

(CLAMORING CONTINUES)

BARNES: One at a time, boys. One at a time.

Yes. We will be retrying this case.

Absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely.

You can chisel that in stone.

REPORTER: Mr. Mason, are you happy?

No... No, we're not happy.

Emily Dodson should have been acquitted.

Emily Dodson should never have been arrested.

BARNES: Well, let me tell you. Anytime you're in a trial,

there's always one bullheaded juror

who doesn't know the law,

who thinks it's his or her job to be contrarian.

Well, it won't happen at retrial.

The system worked? In what way?

Because I have an innocent client here,

undeniably abused by this system,

by the majority of your newspapers,

by this court,

by the cops!

Hey, where was he today, Holcomb?

You keeping that blue line for him?

Keep walking.

Keep walking, buddy. Keep walking.

BARNES: I did not lose the case. (SCOFFS)

It was declared a mistrial,

and it will have no bearing

should I declare my candidacy for mayor.

Now, let me ask you a question.

What's it like to walk around with half a fucking brain?

What fucking fish wrap pays you?

All right. I'm fine. I'm fine.

Just wanted to ask that question.

Emily, you have anything to say

about what happened at Evergreen Cemetery?

What happened at Evergreen Cemetery

was a disgrace, and we wait for the LAPD

to find Charlie's body and arrest those who stole him.

TROY CHISOM: And who are you again?

This is Della Street, my associate.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

PETE STRICKLAND: You take the two buses?

I did it just like you said.

That the other half?

This how much you gave the other two jurors?

What?

JUROR 3: The other two jurors.

The lady librarian, and the guy that drives the trolley?

What are you talking about?

We was locked nine to three.

I wanna make sure I'm getting what they're getting.

I'm the only one getting paid?

(CHUCKLES) Ain't that a kicker.

Guess your housewife didn't need me after all.

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

I might have guessed five and ten,

but juror number three?

I mean, who saw that coming?

I'd have given a hundred-to-one odds,

and still called you a sucker.

Had me fooled.

OLIVER FOGG: You haven't touched your cake, Mrs. Dodson.

It's awfully tasty.

DELLA: You're a free woman now, Emily. Go on.

HAZEL PRYSTOCK: Nothing like a taste of freedom.

♪ ("I FOUND A MILLION DOLLAR BABY" BY JACK ALBIN'S ORCHESTRA PLAYING ON RADIO) ♪

DELLA: Slice for you, Mr. Strickland?

Actually, I'd like a little air.

♪ I found A million-dollar baby ♪

♪ In a five and ten cent store ♪

♪ Plain little girl But what a lady ♪

♪ Just the kind I've been waiting for ♪

♪ Behind the chinaware She smiled so sweetly ♪

♪ Right then and there I lost my heart completely ♪

♪ I found A million-dollar baby ♪

♪ In a five and ten cent store ♪

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

(CRICKETS CHIRPING)

(DOG BARKING)

I'm, uh...

I'm gonna go work, uh, for Hamilton Burger.

- What? - PETE: DA's Office.

You know, steady work.

Oh, okay. Look, if you wanna make a point,

just go ahead and make your fucking point.

I don't think you heard me. I'm going over to Burger.

MASON: To do what?

Lead investigator. Get my badge back.

He's, uh, he's going after the church, following the money.

Oh, you... you mean the case I just fucking made?

Listen to you.

- You just don't get it, do you? - Get what?

Pete, if you need work, I'll give you work.

Name your salary.

Pete, I need you with me. You don't even know Burger.

Eh.

You really should be happy, pal.

You won.

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

Mrs. Dodson, how can I help you?

Right this way.

She ran away once as a child.

She came back the next day with her tail between her legs.

She hid herself in a tree a couple of avenues away.

She's never been without me for this long.

There was a sighting in Albuquerque.

I seriously I doubt the Sister could have gone that far.

- (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) - (BABY COOS)

Well, it's a little past his bedtime,

but I don't think he'll hold that against us.

Right. Right, Charlie?

(CHUCKLES)

- (BIRDY COOS) - I wanna hold him.

(BABY COOING)

Of course. Of course.

He's been waiting for you.

- (BABY GRUNTS) - (SHUSHES)

(BIRDY HUMMING)

He's smaller than Charlie.

His arms are shorter.

And his eyes are brown.

(ACOLYTES WHISPERING)

Hi.

Hi. What about this, huh?

Hey. Oh. (GASPS)

(CHUCKLES)

I think he likes the turtle.

(CHUCKLES)

Oh...

- (BLOWS RASPBERRY) - (EMILY COOS)

(CHUCKLES) Yeah. Yeah.

- (BABY COOING) - EMILY: Yeah.

(SNIFFLES)

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

♪ ("THE CLOUDS WILL SOON ROLL BY" BY BERT AMBROSE PLAYING) ♪

♪ Somewhere The sun is shining ♪

♪ So, honey, don't you cry... ♪

You ready for this crib?

Watch your step, baby. You know it...

BURGER: And how did you come across the evidence

for this financial malfeasance, Mr. Strickland?

PETE: I was charged with tailing the church's money man,

- Eric Seidel. - BURGER: Mm-hmm.

♪ Upon a treetop high... ♪

BIRDY MCKEEGAN: And I staggered out of that car.

And I heard this crying in the middle of the road.

And it was this baby boy.

This baby boy was in the middle of the road crying.

(ALL CHEERING)

BURGER: You became aware of the Woodland Acres development,

which provided tax shelters for the elders

of the Radiant Assembly of God?

Yeah.

They're all just a bunch of crooks

posing as men of the Lord.

And they got all kinds of ways of doing it.

♪ We'll wander, you and I ♪

♪ Goodbye to stormy weather ♪

♪ The clouds Will soon roll by... ♪

BIRDY: And I delivered this baby boy

into this mother's arms. Didn't I do that, Sister Dodson?

EMILY: Yes, you did, Mother McKeegan, and I held him.

And I knew that he was my son resurrected from death.

Resurrected from death.

- Delivered by heaven, right? - (SCATTERED APPLAUSE)

- Right? - MAN: Yeah!

Because God wants us to see these miracles.

God wants us to see these miracles.

Who here has had a miracle, huh? Raise those hands.

I'm talking to you.

Oh, boy. We have some believers in this audience.

DELLA: I'll answer the phones, keep the office in shape,

maintain the files,

and I'll take notes for you when you're with clients.

I'll do all of that because we have no money at the moment.

But the minute we do, we're hiring a girl.

Leaving you with what to do?

Continuing with all the other things I'll be doing.

Executing wills, handling real estate closures,

the bread and butter of a small firm.

-I see. -DELLA: And when we go to trial again,

I'll be writing up motions for you,

preparing witnesses, advising you on jury selection.

That sounds like the work of a lawyer.

DELLA: Which I will be in two years,

because you'll be paying for my night classes at City College.

And when I pass the bar, Mason and Associates

will be Mason and Street.

You two know there's a client waiting in the other room?

- DELLA: We're almost done. - Yeah. We're negotiating.

Getting your ass handed to you, more like it.

DELLA: You'll pay me what E.B. was paying me,

plus 20 percent.

And any quarterly profits, huh, will be split sixty-forty.

- Ninety-ten. - Mmm, sixty-forty.

I'd like to be paid in cash while you two

- build the business. - We have a client waiting.

Let's, uh... let's haggle about this later.

So who is the client?

A woman who claims to be a Mrs. Eva Griffin.

- "Claims"? - Yeah, she looks phony to me.

I looked up all the Griffins in the city directory.

There's a lot of Griffins, but there is no Eva Griffin.

- What do I need you for? - Thinking the same thing.

You're gonna make a great lady lawyer.

I'm gonna make a great lawyer, no modifier.

(QUIETLY) Yeah, no modifier.

Found that address you was looking for.

Oh.

DRAKE: Expenses on the back side.

You got receipts?

Or you can just take my word for it.

DELLA: Right this way, Mrs. Griffin.

You're Mr. Mason, the attorney?

MASON: I am. You've met Della.

This is my other associate, Paul Drake.

One of the best detectives in the city.

Pleased.

So, what brings you in today, Mrs. Griffin?

I'm in trouble.

And she can pay the retainer.

You've come to the right place.

AL HOWARD: Put a roof over it. More gaming space.

A new indoor fountain. Maybe get some, uh...

What do you call them? Uh... (GROANS)

- Those big goldfish? - Koi.

HOWARD: Yeah?

No, that ain't it.

I wish I had your smarts, Mr. Howard.

You got a real knack for business.

(HOWARD CHUCKLES)

You boys want the envelope or, uh, double it in house credit?

How about it, Gene?

The envelope.

You always were the smart one.

- Regards to Woo Sing. - Sure.

Double in credit, huh?

Could've done something with that. Who knows?

Listen, Joe...

if anything ever happens to me,

make sure Maddy gets my share, okay?

Of course.

And if anything were to happen to you, uh,

I'll do likewise.

Look, I want you know, uh, Elaine and the kids...

they're gonna be okay.

- ♪ (INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ - (GRUNTING)

What the fuck?

Get the fuck...

(GRUNTING)

(GARDENER SHOUTS MANDARIN)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(SCREAMS)

(SHOUTING IN MANDARIN)

(WATER SPLASHING)

(SHOUTING IN MANDARIN)

(MUFFLED SHOUTING)

(SPLASHING QUIETS)

(MEN BREATHING HEAVILY)

Sorry, Joe.

WAITRESS: Hope you don't mind me getting this settled.

My shift's about over.

Gotta go cook for them what's home now.

Keep the change.

- WAITRESS: Ah, appreciate you. - Yeah.

WAITRESS: Hey, sweetie.

♪ (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO) ♪

(BIRDS SQUAWKING)

Pretty long way from the choir.

SISTER ALICE MCKEEGAN: It's not so far.

There's an old mission up the road.

I go there sometimes and I pray.

You get any answers?

Not lately.

MASON: They're running a circuit down south.

Temecula, Encinitas, Escondido.

Fairly popular from what I hear.

You didn't come all this way to show me this, did you?

I know how Charlie died.

I know that Ennis put a crew together and took him.

I know that Gannon found out about Baggerly.

I know that Seidel had a hundred-thousand-dollar hole

that he was trying to fill.

I knew all those things, but I couldn't prove it.

The trial's over, Mr. Mason. You won.

- There's one thing I wanna know. - Whether or not I'm a fraud?

Someone took that boy's body out of the ground.

That's quite a trick to pull with everybody watching.

Even for God.

You really do wanna believe in Him, don't you?

No matter how hard you try, you still hope that He's there.

A baby was killed to prop up your church.

So you're telling me that you can look at this

and you can still believe?

You wanna know things, Mr. Mason.

You wanna find things out and prove things.

What comfort has that ever given you?

- (CHUCKLES) - ALICE: What peace?

When I saw you in there, out of the blue,

I thought maybe...

♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

...maybe you were tired of being alone.

Maybe I am.

I am too.

But we will be, won't we?

Alone?

Why is that?

Goodbye, Perry.

Wait.

Did you really think you could bring Charlie back?

I did, didn't I?

♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪

♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪

Subtitles Diego Moraes(oakislandtk) www.opensubtitles.org