All language subtitles for Murder.She.Wrote.S01E21.Funeral.At.Fifty-Mile.DVDRip.English

Tonight on Murder, She Wrote.

- It wasn't the hanging that killed him.
- A blow on the head.

Gotcha!

I'll read you your rights
on the way back into town.

- There is no will.
- What did Mestin have on my dad?

Whatever it was,
it must've been juicy.

You are not real welcome around here.

Ranchers used to hang a dead wolf on a fence
as a warning to other thieving varmints.

I do believe I'm making
someone nervous.

And as we will all miss him,

his loss will be most deeply felt
by his beloved daughter, Mary...

and her husband-to-be, Art Merrick,

byJack's younger brother,
Timothy Carver,

and his close and inseparable friends...

Doc Wallace, Sam Breen,
and Bill Carmody.

And now we commit the body of
our friend, John Carver, to the earth.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

The Lord giveth,
and the Lord taketh away.

Blessed be the name
of the Lord. Amen.

Hey, what do you say, buddy boy?

Uh, you ain't comin' after me
with that rifle, are you, Carmody?

It'd be kind of futile.
It's loaded with blanks.

You don't know my wife, do you, Bill?
Sally, this is Bill Carmody.

I reckon he's the nearest thing to a business
tycoon they got down here in Fifty-Mile.

It's real nice meeting you, Bill.
My pleasure, ma'am.

Carl, don't figure on
making this a long visit.

You are not real welcome around here.

I wouldn't pay much mind
to him, baby doll.

Old Bill's always had kind of a weird
sense of humor, you know what I mean?

Sounded dead serious to me.

I can't understand Carl Mestin
just showing up like that.

Dad never did business with him.

Uncle Tim can't stand the sight of him.

Forget Mestin, honey.
Don't get yourself riled up.

I'm gonna miss him so much.

Aw, me too, babe.

He was one hell of a man.

I remember when
you were born, Mary,

hearing that your mother
had died in childbirth.

We were so worried, wondering how
Jack was going to manage all alone.

Well, he did fine, just fine.

He certainly did.

There you are.
Guaranteed to cure what ails.

Well, there's nothing ailing me
but a touch of jet lag.

However...
Mmm...

I haven't had
dandelion wine in ages.

You know, you can prescribe for me
any day, Dr. Wallace.

Dr. Wallace? Oh, my.

Don't you know that any time there's only
one doctor within a 200-mile radius...

everybody calls him "Doc"?

All right, Doc.
As long as you call meJessica.

All right. Hey, Tim.

Tim, what do you see out there?
Did you lose something there?

No. The storm coming in,
it's gonna be a mean one, Doc.

Looks like it hit
over at my place already.

Art Merrick was telling me you have
the ranch next door. Yes, ma'am.

Jack's and my place used to be one spread.

When our pa died, it was split
right down the middle.

I think it's right overhead.

Excuse me,
I better go and phone over there.

Make sure my hands
got the place battened down good.

Uh, Doc. That gentleman
over there, the peace officer...

isn't he a little overdressed
for the occasion? That's Ed Potts.

You know, I never could prove it,

but I've always said that he wears
that gun and that badge to bed.

Uh-oh. He saw you looking at him.

Now if you want a friend for life,
don't call him "Sheriff. "

- Call him "Marshal. "
- Marshal.

Hi, Doc.

You must be that mystery writer lady from
back east. Guilty as charged, Marshal.

I read one of them.
Not up there with Mickey Spillane...

but darn good for a woman.

Yes, we all struggle under
Mickey's shadow, I suppose.

Now, I gotta admit.
Mysteries ain't really my thing.

Give me a good old rip-roarin'
Western any time.

You know, like the Coop in High Noon.

I notice you wear your, uh, holster
tied down. For quick draw?

Yep. I practice for at least
a half an hour every day.

Care to see a demonstration? Oh, thank
you, but I'll take your word for it.

I don't suppose you've ever
actually had to draw on anyone?

Not so far.

But when the time comes,

I'm ready for 'em to make my day.

Oh, I'm sure you are.

All right. Well, take care of it.

Uncle Tim, is everything all
right at your place? Yeah, so far.

Listen, Mary, since I got
you and Sam here together...

Oh, come on. You're not
putting me to work today.

No, no. I'm just talking about what you and
Mary probably know already, about the will.

About my brother promising the ranch
would be sold to me after he was gone.

Dad told you that?
That's news to me.

Well, your dad and I, we wanted to make
things as easy for you as we could.

What's that got to do
with you buying the place?

Well, I told him I'd give you a price...

that'd make you comfortable
for the rest of your life.

Is that right, Sam?

Well, I don't doubt
you and Jack discussed it, Tim,

but the fact is, there is no will.

- What?
- Jack did not finalize one...

in spite of a lot of urging by me.

Oh, come on now, Sam.
Simmer down.

I mean, it's obvious
that Mary will inherit.

Being his only child,
you are of course his only heir.

It's just gonna take a little longer
to run it through probate, that's all.

Then I guess there's no hurry
on your offer, Uncle Tim.

Let me discuss it with Art
and see what he thinks about selling.

What the blazes is that?

Oh, no.

Mr. Mestin, you have a bad habit
of showing up where you don't belong.

Whoa, you better listen to me, missy.
No, you listen to me.

I think that your visit
to my father at the hospital...

probably shortened
what little time he had left.

Well, you can't blame a fella for visiting an
old friend, can you? You're not a friend of mine.

I don't want you in my house.
You got a problem.

- Miss Carver, this house ain't yours no more.
- What?

Yeah, I got your daddy's last will
and testament right in here, ma'am.

- Well, that's not possible.
- You better believe it is, Sam.

You mind if I have a look at it
as the family lawyer?

You can look at it all you want.
It's just a copy.

The lady gets enough
to start over somewhere,

but this land, the cattle, and this house,
it all comes to me, buddy boy.

You're a liar, Mr. Mestin.

You're Merrick, right?
The foreman?

I heard how you got engaged
toJack's daughter here.

Figured you'd marry yourself
a nice little piece of property, did you?

Hold it, hold it, hold it.
That's enough. That's enough now.

Now, let's not stir things up
any more than they are already.

Come on, let's take it easy.
Come on. Come on now.

Come on, Carl.
Come on, let's have a drink.

That's the way.

Why are they treating him like that,
Uncle Tim and the others?

Like they were afraid of him.

Well, whatever's going on,
it certainly broke up the gathering.

Hey, sorry I blew up like that.

I'm almost sorry Sam Breen stopped you.
Yeah, well, next time, nobody's gonna stop me.

Take it easy with Mestin, Art.

Starting a fight's
only gonna buy you trouble.

Mary, you know how sorry I am
about your dad.

Astounding, Mr. Mestin. Wyoming
is certainly a lot different from Maine.

Ma'am? Well, back east, fathers don't
usually disinherit their only daughters.

I can't imagine
Jack doing such a thing.

Yeah, well, I reckon it has something
to do with gratitude...

on account of how
I saved his life during the war...

You know, Korea.
Inchon landing.

Oh, really?

Then you must know my husband,
Tom, Tom Fletcher.

He was Jack's commanding officer.

Fletcher? Oh, yeah, sure.
Yeah, Lieutenant Fletcher.

He's quite a guy. He's a good guy.

I've been neglecting my wife.

Oh, hello, Art. How's Mary?

Oh, she's okay. She's asleep.

The pills Doc gave her did the trick.

Boy, she sure was upset.
Well, small wonder.

I mean, besides his other dubious charms,
Mr. Mestin has atrocious timing.

I still don't believe thatJack would
leave the ranch to anybody but Mary.

Well, Mr. Breen seems to think
that the will is genuine.

Come on, Art. We're gonna help you
get the place battened down.

Yeah, that storm's
carrying gale-force winds.

Sloppy Carl, never could
drink with the grown-ups.

Hey, hey, hey.
Don't start with that stuff.

'Cause I ain't getting in no drinking
contest with you today, baby doll.

Sure, 'cause I beat you at everything.

Drinking, poker, arm wrestling,
especially arm wrestling.

Why don't you just
shut your mouth, Sally?

Just 'cause I let you win
last couple of times.

What? You let me win?
I whipped your tail, buster.

And I got 500 says I could do it again,
right here and now.

- You kidding me?
- What's the matter, Carl?

Too cheap or too chicken or both?

Gotcha!

500, please.

Next time, I'm gonna twist your arm
right out of its socket.

I can help. Haymow doors still need bracing
in the west wind? Wouldn't hurt, Mestin.

Carl.

Carl, you cheap welsher!
You shorted me 50 bucks!

I'm glad you came along, Jes�s.

Listen, come in for a cup of coffee after
you get that bailing wire unloaded, all right?

Sounds good. Gracias.

Thank you.
That's good. Half a cup.

Okay.
Thank you, Emma.

Doc, here, have some coffee.
Yes, please.

I was starting to get worried about you, Art.
You have trouble out there at the water tank?

I got the pickup
stuck in the mud coming back.

I spent two hours digging out,
and then I gave up and started walking.

Jes�s came along and gave me a lift
the last half mile or so.

Oh, you must be chilled to the bone.
Emma's made some wonderful hot soup,

and there's coffee and sandwiches. I'll take all you
got just as soon as I run up and check on Mary, okay?

Se�or Merrick! Se�or Merrick!
Se�or Merrick!

Se�or Merrick, come see!
Se�or Merrick! Se�or Merrick!

- Come see, Se�or Merrick!
- Slow down, Jes�s.

- What's happened, Jes�s? What's wrong?
- In the barn. Come see. In the barn.

Hey, what's going on?

Where's Carl, anyway?

Oh, God. Carl.

All right.

Couldn't you at least
have taken him down from there?

I'm afraid that was my doing,
Marshal. Thank you, Doc.

I thought you'd like to see
everything undisturbed.

Yeah, sure.

Okay, I've seen it.

Let's get it down.
Where's his wife?

Laying down in the camper.
She took it pretty hard.

Tell me, Doc. Has the marshal
investigated a murder case before?

Not as far as I know, but there haven't been
any murders in this county for five years.

Ed's only been the sheriff
for three years.

How did he do it anyhow?
Oh, you are absolutely right, Marshal.

I mean, there's nothing
he could stand on or jump off.

I mean, it couldn't be suicide.
It has to be murder.

Right. Has to be.

Although it does seem
that the killer did try to pull...

that very large bale ofhay
over there closer to the body...

probably to suggest suicide.

Yeah. Either he was frightened off,
or maybe he just changed his mind.

Yeah, I can see that.
Mm-hmm.

I didn't like the look of that
blood smear above his left ear...

as if he'd been hit with a blunt
object before he was hung.

You have sharp eyes, Jessica.
He was hit by something.

Yeah. Well, I noticed the freshly
splintered wood in the beam...

where the rope was hanging over.

I'm sure the sheriff guessed
that it means...

that the rope was supporting
Mestin's weight...

when it was being
pulled over the beam.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Uh, Doc, would you have any idea
how long he'd been dead?

Oh, I'd say four, maybe five hours.

Uh-huh. Well, that would put
the time of the murder at...

Just about 3:00.

All right, you can all go.
I want you to hang around.

I'm gonna have to talk with everybody
that was here. Stay available.

I'll be along directly. I wanna do
a little more examining of the body.

Mary, when Mr. Mestin
showed up at the ranch today,

you said something about
his having visited your father.

You also said how his visit shortened
Jack's life. I didn't mean that. Not really.

Well, I don't know.

I was there on my daily visit, and there
was Mestin coming out of Dad's room.

Didn't say a word to me,
just looked so smug.

And Jack offered no explanation?

He was so upset
he couldn't even talk.

He never was the same after that.

And two days later, he died.

You know, the witnessing signatures
on the will were by nurses.

Mestin probably arrived at the hospital
with the will already drafted...

and somehow pressured your dad
into signing it. Pressured? How?

Well, that's what we've got to find out.

He told me some
cock-and-bull story about...

having saved Jack's life during
the war, not true, of course. Oh?

I tripped him up with a question
about knowing my husband, Frank.

Believe me, he didn't. No.

Whatever made your dad
sign that will, it was not gratitude.

It was more likely blackmail.
My dad wouldn't give in to blackmail.

Oh, here you are. The sheriff would
like us all together for some questions.

Bill, is there something that Carl Mestin
might have been holding over Dad?

Like what?
I don't know.

Sorry, the fact is,
I didn't know Mestin real well.

But weren't you involved in some kind
of deal with him a while back?

Business, just business.

Mestin talked me into buying a whole lot
of grain, so we could open a local feed yard.

And it didn't work out?
After I bought the grain,

Mestin reneged on his end of it
and left me holding the bag.

I, uh... I lost my shirt,
I don't mind telling you.

But why would you have anything
to do with Mestin anyway?

All the times I heard his name mentioned
around here by Dad or Uncle Tim...

it was obvious they hated the man.

I just didn't have much choice.

Come on.
We'd better get inside.

Doc's still out in the barn.

Where's Art Merrick?

Oh, he and Jes�s went
to pull Art's pickup out of the mud.

Be back in a while.
Uh-huh.

- I don't see Mrs. Mestin.
- Oh, she came in with some wet clothes...

and went to the laundry room
to dry them.

Oh, that's wonderful. Can't the rhinestone
cowgirl wait a decent amount of time...

till she starts moving in?
Watch your mouth, Orphan Annie.

If you wanna know, I wish I'd never seen
this stinking ranch or anybody on it.

What about it, Sheriff? One of these
solid citizens murdered my husband.

So why haven't you
done something about it?

I'm planning on doing something
just as soon as you simmer down.

Now... where were we?

I believe that was the very question
you were going to ask.

Where were we around 3:00?

Right. Now, who wants to start?

Well, that was about
the time the storm hit.

We all went outside
to batten things down.

I went over by the stables with Bill here.

Yeah, Sheriff. We were moving horses
out of the corral into the stable.

Mr. Breen, where were you?

I was at the stable too. There was
some feed stacked up in the front,

and I moved it inside to keep it dry.

Anybody with you? Well, Tim and Bill here
brought the horses in right behind me.

- Yeah, we saw you there.
- What about Doc?

Oh, well, Doc was over
at the other side of the compound.

- He was closing up the garage building.
- That's where I was, all right.

So all four of you can
account for one another...

during the time that
Mr. Mestin was hanged?

- Except it wasn't the hanging that killed him.
- A blow on the head?

It left a deep, depressed skull fracture.
It must've been instantly fatal.

He was already dead
when the killer strung him up.

Oh, that's sick.
Hanging a dead man.

In the old days, Ms. Mestin,

ranchers used to hang a dead wolf
or a coyote on a fence...

as a warning to other thieving varmints.

So? What's the point?

So, maybe that's
what the killer did with Carl...

when he didn't have
a barbwire fence handy.

Sounds like you didn't think
a whole lot of Mestin, Carver.

No, Potts, I didn't.

He not only poisoned my brother's
last hours on this earth,

he killed my dream of putting
the Carver ranch back together...

like it was when Jack and I were boys.

Ms. Mestin already turned down
the best offer I can make.

You call that an offer?

Okay, okay.
Let's get back to 3:00 p. m. Mary?

Where was I?

Doc gave me some sleeping pills
after you and the others left, Sheriff.

I was upstairs sleeping
untilJes�s found the body.

I was cleaning up.
Never left the house.

Me? I was in the R.V. Sleeping it off.

I was in my room getting rid of jet lag.

Well, ladies, it seems that we're the only
ones who can't corroborate our alibis.

Awful lot of sleeping going on.

Don't matter. No woman could've done in
Mestin anyhow. Not the way he got it.

- I'm not sure that that's true.
- It works for me.

The way I see it, everybody's
accounted for except Art Merrick.

Art wasn't anywhere near this place.

He went over to check the dam at that
water impound over by the buttes.

He got stuck in the mud on the way back.

Look, is it all right if me
and the boys get out of here?

- Yeah, we got some stuff to take care of.
- Fine with me.

You want me to stay around
till Art comes back?

That's okay, Tim. I know you wanna see
what the storm did to your place.

Now, where'd you say I could find Art?

Really, Sheriff.

You don't seriously think
that Art is the murderer?

I thought you was smarter
than that, Ms. Fletcher.

There isn't anybody else.

Process of elimination.

- Thanks, Jes�s. See you ma�ana.
- Hasta ma�ana.

What's going on here? There's solid
ground on either side of this mudhole, Art.

You could've detoured around it easy.

Hey, Ed. It was raining so hard,
I didn't see the hole till I was in it.

What are you saying...
I got myself stuck on purpose?

- That's what I'm saying, cowboy.
- Oh, Ed, will you listen to reason?

Back on off, easy like, Mary.
No.

Damn it, Ed. Stop playing John Wayne
and tell me what the hell's going on here.

There was trouble between you
and Mestin out at the house today.

- So what?
- So later,

when Mestin went out to the barn,
you drove off,

stopped the pickup as soon as it was
out of sight of the buildings,

snuck back on foot, offed him...

and then drove on out here to get
bogged down in the mud for an alibi.

Smart, but not smart enough.

You're out of your mind, Ed.
Oh, Art.

I'll be all right, honey.

I'll read you your rights
on the way back into town.

Night, Mary.

I'm telling you, Potts.
You're making a big mistake,

not to mention violating his civil
rights. Aw, don't give me your lawyer talk.

I got him darn near red-handed.

Sheriff, I was hoping with the clear
light of day and a little applied logic...

you might change your mind.
Logic?

What logic?
Well, for one thing,

Mestin was struck on the back
of the head on the left side,

which would indicate
a left-handed killer.

- But Art is right-handed.
- There. You see, Ed? Listen to her.

And of course there's the motive.
What motive?

Well, that's just the thing.
Mr. Merrick doesn't have one.

Sure, he does.

To get the ranch back for Mary
and for himself when he marries her.

Oh, but Sally stands to inherit now
as Mestin's widow.

Killing Carl didn't do anyone any good,
with the possible exception of Sally.

I mean, she could get it all...

not just her widow's share
of the community property.

She's right on the money, Ed.

Now, why don't you quit being so blamed
mulish and admit you screwed up?

You people really know how
to gang up on a fella, you know it?

If it wasn't 9:40 in the morning,
I'd say he just rode off into the sunset.

Oh, he's a bonehead all right.

But he will have to turn Art loose
as soon as I get bail.

And that's already in the works
up at the county seat.

Oh, good, Sam.
That was fast work.

When they come up for air, you might
tell Mary I had a little talk with the boys.

We all think it would be wise if we
stayed close by her till all this is settled.

So I'll see you out there at the ranch
later this afternoon.

Well, I know that will mean a lot to her.

See you then.
Mm-hmm.

Art.
Jessica, Art was just saying...

that he overheard the sheriff
getting a call from the coroner.

About Mestin's autopsy?
Yeah, it seemed to shake him up.

I mean, Ed kept repeating everything
that the coroner was telling him.

That Mestin died
on account of being hanged.

And that the hit on the head
didn't come till afterwards.

That's strange. I wonder why Doc Wallace was
so sure it happened the other way around.

Maybe you should ask him.
His place is just down the street.

Yeah, I believe I will.
I'll be right back.

Okay, bye-bye.

Well, morning. I'm Alice.

I expect you're Ms. Fletcher.

Hello, Alice. You're right.
I am Jessica Fletcher.

What was your first clue? Well, besides being
Doc's nurse, housekeeper and Lord knows what all,

I'm the local telephone operator.

Not much goes on around Fifty-Mile
I don't know about, right off.

Speaking of Doc, is he in?

No. He's out on a house call.
He'll be back in an hour.

Oh, dear.
I'm afraid I can't wait.

- Oh, are you feeling poorly?
- Oh, no, no, no.

No. I just wanted to find out if he'd made any
notes about an examination he did last night.

Uh, do you think he'd mind...

if I took a peek in his file?

Mind? Oh, Ms. Fletcher,
he'd skin my hide for sure.

The only time I ever saw
Doc lose his temper...

was when he caught some fella one morning
snooping through his files.

Really?

He threw that man right out
of the office. Hollered at him...

words that would shame Lucifer himself.

Told him if he ever breathed
a word of what he found out...

it would be the last breath he ever took.

Oh, my goodness.
Well,

I certainly wouldn't want to provoke
that kind of reaction.

This intruder,
was he a stranger in town?

Not likely. It was that awful man
that got himself hanged...

out at Carver Ranch yesterday.
Carl Mestin?

Mm-hmm. You ask me,
a man like that was born to hang.

- Don't you think so, dear?
- Oh.

Jessica, I've known
Doc Wallace all my life.

There isn't a gentler, kinder man
in the whole world.

What's going on, Emma? I'm taking some coffee
and juice for the grieving widow in the library.

Alone? That's enough coffee and
tomato juice for a small detox center.

She's been working on
a heavy hangover.

Sure hate to see your phone bill
next month, Miss Mary.

That woman's been at it since after
breakfast, mostly long distance.

Oh, that's all I need. Forget
the room service. Yes, ma'am.

Well, you're back.
What's on your alleged mind, honey?

You are, ma'am. You are on my mind.
You are in my hair. And you're on my nerves.

So until you have your name on a deed
to this place, I want you off of my land.

You can stomp your little
manure-coated feet all day, kiddo.

I'm not budging
till Carl's murderer is caught.

If you don't like my company,
why don't you move out?

You're gonna have to anyway
sooner or later.

What was it?

What did Mestin have on my dad
that made him sign that lousy will?

Carl never told me.

But whatever it was,
it must've been juicy.

For sure it was real profitable.

Door-to-door delivery.
That was very thoughtful.

It was the least I could do.

I dropped the murder charges.
You and your logic.

It takes a strong man
to admit his own mistakes, Marshal.

I still think he's my best suspect.

Ma'am, if Art didn't kill Mestin,

who do you think did?

You know...

it might be a good idea to challenge
Sally Mestin to an arm-wrestling contest.

I think you'd find it illuminating.

You want to arm wrestle
with little ol' me?

Jessica tells me you're pretty good.

Honey, I'm very good.

And I arm wrestle okay too.

Oh.

Oh, don't mind me, Sally. I'm just
trying to analyze your technique.

Well, it's just all in the timing
and the body English.

The women's North American champion
is just a little bitty thing,

a lot smaller than me.

Ready when you are, babe.

Ah, gotcha!
Wanna go again?

No, thanks. Once is all I need.

Hmm.

You may be onto something, all right.

Never thought a woman
could do in Mestin,

but she's sure strong enough,
and she's left-handed to boot.

What?

- What are you two pulling?
- Oh, it's just a little educational exercise.

You set me up as a suspect
in my own husband's murder.

You can both suck eggs!

Huh!

Too bad. I think
she kind of liked me.

Hello?

Anyone there?

I do believe
I'm making someone nervous.

What's for breakfast?
Look, folks, my cupboard's bare.

Anyway, I got tired of sitting out
in that R.V. All by my lonesome.

Are you a good ranch foreman?

Maybe we could work it out that
you can stay on after I take over.

Don't, Mary. Mary.
Mary, don't let her get to you.

Getting to her wasn't my plan.

- Thanks a heap, chiquita.
- Guess what, Sally?

You have a gentleman caller.

Morning, folks.

Ms. Mestin, I have a warrant here.

I'm arresting you on suspicion
of murdering your husband.

Oh, Ed, I might have to kiss you.

You have to be kidding, a warrant?

Yes, ma'am.
You wanna come along now?

Hey, you're crazy.
I did not kill Carl.

How about one of them,
Uncle Tim or Doc or the other two?

I'll tell you something.
I don't know how or why,

but Carl knew them all
from a long time ago.

Just a moment, you're saying
whatever Carl held overJack Carver,

it had to do with the others too?

That's right. So what if they
all alibi each other? Thick as they are.

Lying to protect
one of them is no big deal.

You lay a hand on me,
cowboy, I'll bust your face.

Sally, don't you think you'd
better play your trump card...

before you wind up on trial for murder?
I don't know what you're talking about.

Oh, I think you do.

Your only motive for killing Carl is supposedly to get
sole ownership of this ranch as his widow, right, Marshal?

That's how it stacks up.

But she's not his widow.
Isn't that true, Sally?

You and Carl were never married.

You know that for a fact, Jessica?
After we got home yesterday,

I got time and charges on all those phone
calls Sally made while we were gone.

You don't miss one lousy trick, do you?

The calls you made were to some
quickie wedding chapels in Nevada.

I suspect you were looking for one willing to sell
you a forged marriage certificate so you could inherit.

You must have succeeded, too, which accounts for
your suddenly being so confident you'd get this ranch.

You are gonna have
a tough time proving that.

But there is proof,
and it's under your wedding ring.

When you took off your bracelets
and the ring before arm wrestling,

there were white lines under the bracelet,
but not under the ring.

The skin under the ring is as tanned
dark as the rest of your hand,

which means the ring was a prop,

put on just before you and Carl came here,
so you could pass off as his wife.

He said folks around here
are old-fashioned.

Acting married, we wouldn't make waves.

He said he'd be making
enough waves already.

Well, he sure got that right.

Well, Sheriff, if I'm not under arrest,
I'd like to leave.

There's a couple of nice spots
where you can park the R.V. Next to town.

I wouldn't go any further
than that for now.

Okay. I'll admit it.

I'm back to the starting gate.

Who did kill Mestin?

Actually, I think I can give you a fairly
accurate description of the murderer.

He's a tall, strong, ambidextrous man,

who I expect had a number
of reasons to hate Carl Mestin,

but only one reason
strong enough to kill him.

Yeah, well, there ain't
anybody like that around here.

Yes, I know.

I can't say I'm sorry
to wave good-bye to her.

I just hope she's off Carver Ranch
before she puts that thing in a ditch.

You know, in a funny kind of way,
I feel sorry for her.

Hey, listen, honey. Now's a good time
to run out and get my pickup.

Oh, that's right. It's still out there
where you got stuck. Do you wanna come?

Oh, no. No, you two run along.

I'm so darn glad you're here.

So am I. So am I, Mary.

You're left-handed, Doc.
I noticed that before.

Very left-handed.
Ambidextrous, I ain't.

Tell me. How did you come by
that little gem of yours?

The blow to Carl's head
was struck left-handed...

and after he'd died from the hanging...
you were wrong about that.

Anyway, last night, someone
decorated my bedroom window...

with a hangman's noose
tied by a right-handed man.

You see? Ambidextrous.

A hangman's noose? I'll be damned.

Ambidextrous and worried.

Worried enough to try
to frighten me away from here...

before I identify the murderer.

What murderer?

Who is this tall, strong,
ambidextrous killer?

Do you really know what you're saying?

Yes, I'm afraid I do.

Well, I think I'll take a little walk.

Go down to the barn,
maybe look around a bit.

You shouldn't meddle
in something you don't understand.

Now someone can get hurt bad.

You're not talking about me,
are you, Doc? It's Mary.

Mary could be so badly hurt.

Well, then, will you just drop it?
Right now, please.

Carl Mestin was killed
to protect Mary from something.

A secret, Doc?
A terrible secret...

that her father considered worse
than the loss of her birthright?

I mean, can any big secret
be that terrible?

Well, one could.
Now, will you just drop it, please?

So here you are, Uncle Tim, Doc,

Sam and Bill.

Four men who added up to one tall,
strong, ambidextrous killer.

You did it together,
and you alibied each other.

That did throw me off
till I realized what it really meant.

- Jessica, if you care anything for Mary.
- Of course I do, Tim.

Doc, what was it that Mestin got out
of your file? You knew about that?

I know three of you
had reasons to hate Mestin.

Tim, because he was taking this ranch.

And you, Bill, because he coerced you
into a bad business deal. And Doc...

because Carl learned something
he shouldn't have in your files.

Was that the secret
you're hiding from Mary?

That was part of it, a big part.

What about you, Sam?

Did you have some reason to hate Carl
that I didn't find out?

Just knowing Carl was reason enough.

We all know him too damn well.

Who was Carl Mestin, anyway?

I realized he was
familiar with this place.

He even knew that that haymow door
needs a bracing in the wind.

So he must've worked here at one time,

but before Mary
was old enough to remember.

All right, you might as well
know the whole ungodly truth.

Carl...
that's not his real name, by the way...

was a randy, young ranch hand here.

He tried every way he knew
to seduceJack's wife.

Ruth, her name was.

She was just a kid, young, shy.

One day, he found her alone,
he tried to smooth-talk on her again,

- and when she said no...
- He raped her.

It was just pure animal lust.

She was battered all over when I
examined her later. And then he ran,

with the four of us
and Jack hot on his trail.

Well, we caught up with him.
We strung him up.

We all wanted to see him die
after what he'd done to Ruth.

All butJack.
He said, "No. "

He talked the rest of us out oflynching.
Said we'd turn him over to the law instead.

Only he escaped.
Got clean away.

And in the meantime, Ruth was pregnant
with Mary, the child of that rape.

Oh, dear Lord.

Her sanity was already edgy.

I figured that it would be better
for her to bear her child,

thinking as she wanted to that...

Well, she died in childbirth.

My brotherJack,
he raised that child like it was his own.

He loved her. He doted on her.
His one great fear was that...

Mary would find out
the truth about her birth.

And Carl, how did he find out about Mary?

As near as we can figure it,

he changed his name,
stayed around these parts.

He kept out of our sight of course,
read about the birth in the paper...

realized it was exactly nine months
since the rape and guessed the rest of it.

But he needed a clincher.

So when he came back here
with his new name...

and his threats of blackmail
to keep us under his thumb,

he broke into my files.

Mary's file? No. No,
Jack's. Jack was sterile.

He could never father a child of his own.

It was right there,
the undeniable proof...

that Mary was Carl's child, notJack's.

And everything you did after that
was to keep Mary from finding out?

Yeah.

The day of the funeral,

we were all out here in the storm
securing the place.

We saw this stray horse run in here
where Carl was working.

And the idea must have
hit us all at once.

All those years ago when we'd
put him on a horse to lynch him.

Yeah. It seemed like maybe divine
providence was daring us to do it again.

We told ourselves
we only wanted to scare him.

Get him to quit his claim to the ranch.

He was arrogant, cocky.

Hejust sat there
on that horse laughing at us.

Saying we didn't have the guts.

And then there was
this enormous lightning flash.

The horse reared. It bolted.
Carl's neck was broke.

It was as if God had meant it to be.

After that, it was obvious that
one man could not have lynched him.

So... we took him down, and...

I hit him.

'Cause I knew where and how hard.

Then we strung him back up
and went back to the house.

We never figured that
Art would be blamed.

We'd have stepped in
if you hadn't cleared him.

Uh-huh.
So what happens next?

Am I now a threat
because I know the secret?

Jessica, we all promised each other
Mary would never find out.

But Carl died.
Maybe not murder...

but he's dead because
of what you all did.

All right.

We'll go to the sheriff,
tell him what happened, stand trial.

I don't know what a jury will say.

We'll even go tojail if it comes to that.

But there's no way on God's green earth
Mary will ever know the reason why,

not from any of us.

Nor from me, Sam.
She's been hurt enough already.