All language subtitles for Perry Mason S05E24 The Case of the Melancholy Marksman

♪♪

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I understand, Irene.

Now, look, Irene,
please, I... I can't.

I won't.

Yeah, yeah. I understand.

Your husband just
walked in. I'll call you later.

- Hello, Mr. Chase.
- Len.

Uh, I want another one
of those water purifier kits.

Oh. Going to South
America again?

You've still got them down
in the basement, haven't you?

Well, sure. I'll
get one for you.

Here you are, Mr. Chase.

You need a gun this time?
Little side trip to the jungle?

No. Uh, just tell
Tony to charge this.

Yeah. Sure.

Irene?

Irene, are you home yet?

♪ Irene, good night ♪

You see, you're my children,

and, uh, I want
you to come home.

Irene's there.

Well, Irene wants
you to come home, too.

She's not our real mother,

so we won't come home as
long as she's there, Daddy.

Will we, Anne?

No, we won't.

But, uh, I love
you, and I miss you.

We miss you, too.

You could take Irene
out and drown her.

Well, you could.

Girls, why don't you go out
and ask Martha for tea, hmm?

Yeah. Uh...

Will you stay here
for tea, Daddy?

We won't talk about
Irene anymore.

- All right.
- We're afraid of her all the same.

Well, I'll stay, so you go
ahead and get the tea, and...

You know, Ted, you're
going to have to choose

between your children
and that woman.

Why did I ever marry her?

You didn't. She married you.

But you're not the first man

who ever got caught
at his first wife's funeral.

Oh, divorce Irene,
Ted. Get rid of her.

Ellen... Ellen, you're, uh...

You're forgetting that crazy
financial agreement I made.

You see, a divorce
would wreck the company

and ruin us...

You, the kids, Mother,
Dad, everybody.

But, you know...

You know, maybe... just
maybe... There's another way,

a way that's even more legal.

Only I don't want to use
the company lawyers.

Do you know a man
named Perry Mason?

Well, I've never met him.

Well, he's a friend of mine.

Go and talk to him,

and then take a vacation, Ted.

Just you and the
children somewhere.

That Mr. Vale can run things down at
the place while you're away, can't he?

Ellen, I don't need a vacation.

Yes, you do.

Ted, have you
seen a doctor lately?

The way you perspire
and get dizzy and...

You see, there's really nothing
wrong with me that can't be cured

in one way or another.

You're trying to say
that you now believe

your first wife did
not commit suicide?

Yes. Yes, that's right.

You mean she was murdered?

Look, Mr. Mason, let me tell you
something about Betty, my wife...

Uh, my first wife.

You know how some
people save string?

Betty saved paper.

Uh, she would write
shopping lists on old envelopes.

She saved paper bags.

She would answer
letters on the letter itself.

Here. Now, here's a
note that she wrote me.

It's dated the day
before she died.

"Darling, I've tried and tried to
make you listen to me about Irene.

You won't believe
me. But now"...

That's all.

I found that just a
few days ago between

the blotter and the
pad on Betty's old desk.

Now, she must have
hidden it there for a reason.

But whatever it was she was
trying to tell me, she never finished.

I frankly don't see
the significance.

Mr. Mason, why should
Betty try to kill herself?

She had everything. At least,
materially speaking, she did.

Your wife left a suicide note.

Also on the back
of an old envelope.

Oh, it just said she had
had all she could stand,

and she was going
to put an end to it.

In fact, the police
still have it, I suppose.

Where was Irene at that time?

She was on her way to Catalina.

She proved that, I guess.

Oh, actually, all
we have is this note

indicating a vague desire
to tell you something.

But why didn't
she finish the note?

Mr. Mason, Betty
did not kill herself.

The coroner must have based
his verdict on good evidence,

plus the suicide note and the fact that no
one else was in the apartment at the time.

Now, I can reexamine the
matter in the light of this...

You... You just
do what you want.

Maybe the answer isn't
in a law book anyway.

Who is it?

Irene, darling.

These will be ready for
tomorrow, won't they, darling?

No. No, they won't.

Oh, but they will.

We made a deal, Irene, and you
said when it was over, it was over.

Have you forgotten that I still have
that little old piece of paper, Herman?

My name is Len. Leonard Dykes.

What a nice little job you
have here, working for Tony.

And such a nice little apartment for
you and your unsuspecting little wife.

But only for Leonard Dykes.

Not for Herman Dickson.

You'd hurt anybody,
wouldn't you?

Tomorrow, then, darling?

Or would you rather
take the third-time trip?

You know, one of these days, you're
going to push somebody too far, Irene,

and they'll kill you.

I know, darling, but it
isn't going to be you.

So be sweet now.
I'll see you tomorrow.

So he says if it would've
happened one minute sooner,

I'd have had a fractured skull.

More?

Hi, Irene. Uh, look,

my wife has been sick,
and I let the insurance lapse.

But I'll take care of
everything in a week or two.

Well, Cecil, darling, you
make me feel like Shylock.

You know, I've never
pressured you for the payments.

I'm just here looking for
my wandering husband.

Oh. Oh, well, he
didn't come in tonight.

It's the first time he's
missed in a week.

He didn't come home, either.

I worry so much
about his health.

He's going away on
a business trip soon.

You are taking care of him
for me, aren't you, darling?

Oh, sure. That's
easy. He'll be okay.

Thanks, darling.

You don't have to tell me.

I know. Irene.

Gee, a guy tries to be nice
and not wake his wife up

and she gives him
this Irene business.

- Irene who?
- Irene Chase.

You reek of her.

I was going to buy you some
perfume and this girl tried it on me.

You've been with her again.

I wouldn't touch that
woman with a 10 foot pole.

- Don't you yell at me.
- Anyway, Irene is my cousin.

Kissing cousin.

- She came here this evening.
- Here?

When I told her you were
still at the store, she said,

"If you knew your
husband as well as I do,"

and then she laughed in my face.

Well, I was there.

She said it would be terrible
for me if you got into trouble.

What sort of trouble
would I be in?

All I do is engrave fancy
pictures on rich men's guns.

Come on. Let's go to bed.

Forget about Irene.

How?

That kind of woman I
could kill with my bare hands.

So could I.

Tony? Hi, darling.

Wonderful news. He's
going back to cha-cha land.

Come to me the moment he leaves.

Now, why take a chance, Irene?

We've only got to
wait a little while longer.

But I want you here with me now.

I want to see you
and talk to you.

Good idea. Only I've got
other things I have to do tonight.

Not too many things, darling,

or you might not be quite
so welcome next time.

You know, if we didn't
love each other so much,

I'd think you didn't
trust me, sweet.

But now I really
must say good night.

And now, the latest
weather report.

A fast moving front which will
bring thunderstorms and rain

is expected to pass over
the area around midnight.

However, tomorrow
will be clearer and cooler.

Now, I'm gonna ask you once more,
and this is the last time. Will you...

The answer's still no.

And if you want to divorce me,

I'll hold you to the agreement
you made when you married me.

Well, then, I'll have to hold you to
that other agreement, remember?

Everything I've given you goes
into a trust fund for my children.

That's only in
case I die, darling.

♪♪

Turn it off.

What are you listening to,
Mr. Chase? What do you want to hear?

I want to hear the wrath of God.

Hear who?

You know, it's not
what happens today

that breaks a man down, Cecil.

It's the remorse over
what happened yesterday

and the dread of tomorrow.

I was supposed to catch
a plane tonight, Cecil,

I think.

Cecil...

Cecil, am I mad, Cecil?

A mad man?

We interrupt this program to
bring you this news bulletin.

Police report the apparent murder of
the wife of socialite Theodore Chase,

President of the
Chase Enterprises.

The beautiful Mrs. Irene Chase was
found shot to death in her apartment

less than an hour ago.

Police are now searching
for the missing husband.

We return you know
to our regular program.

♪♪

Hey, you missed your... If you wait a
minute, I'll get you a cab to the airport.

No.

Ellen, I'm sober
now and sane, I think.

All I need is a
little more time.

Listen to me, Ted. Wait.
Go see Perry Mason.

Look, the only thing that's important is
that you and my children are taken care of,

and I haven't got much time.

But we don't need help, you do.

Don't you realize this is all that guy
Vale needs to wipe you out? He'll ruin you.

So listen to me.

There'll be a package for you
at the Santa Monica post office.

General delivery.

Go get it and keep it
and keep quiet about it.

Ted? Ted!

Yeah. Yeah. Fine. Good.

He did? Fine. Good work.

Yeah.

They found a rifle on the
building across the way.

Morning, Andy.

Oh, good morning, Counselor.

You couldn't possibly
be looking for a client?

That depends upon whether you mean
finding one or getting one, Lieutenant.

And your client couldn't
possibly be Mr. Theodore Chase?

What've you got, Charlie?

Well, I found the slug
that killed her, Lieutenant,

but it's sure going
to be tough to trace.

Hitting that fireplace
afterwards didn't help any. Look.

All right. You'll run it down, Charlie.
Oh, and tell your boys to make real sure

about any powder burns
or gun powder residue.

All right. But I'm almost sure the gun
wasn't fired from in here, Lieutenant.

How did you find out about
the murder, Lieutenant?

Simple deduction, Perry.

A woman, identity unknown,
called and reported it at 1:17 a.m.

- She was here, waiting for you?
- She was not.

Why are you so
anxious about my client?

I have a feeling you'll be
discussing that with him soon... in jail.

Ellen, what time was it when
Ted called you from Mexico?

About 7:00 a.m.

He said he was going
to hide down there until

the police found the
person who killed her.

- You don't think he did?
- Oh, Perry.

I've watched my brother...

A good man, a kind,
intelligent man...

Endure tortures beyond
human endurance,

but he did not kill her.

And if your law and
justice can't prove that...

Our justice isn't
barbaric, Ellen.

It won't accept
any eye for an eye.

It only wants those truly
guilty to be punished.

And any man who can run
away like a thief in the night,

leaving his little children to think
that their father is a murderer,

is not, in my mind, a
good, kind, intelligent man.

He did not run away!

Ellen, where is he?

Your brother is sick, Ellen.

Help me find him
before the police do.

Well, I think he... He
might go to the office.

On Sunday?

He wanted to get some
money for his children

before Charles Vale has
everything in the company tied up.

Vale's the new vice
president I told you about.

And apparently there's
some stocks down there,

some of Ted's own securities
that his children are entitled to.

Good morning.

Good morning. And
who might you be?

My name is Mason.
I'm an attorney.

Miss Chase gave me
permission to come here.

I feel so sorry for
her. Such a tragedy.

I'm going to have trouble
saving this corporation.

For whom?

For the stockholders, of
course. I'm Charles Vale.

I understand some of
the major stockholders

are violently opposed to you
as an officer of the firm, Mr. Vale.

Some firms need vice presidents
the stockholders violently oppose.

This was one of them.

I was brought in to
pump some life into it.

I'm afraid to salvage anything.

I'm going to have to be
given complete control.

And if you are
not given control?

It will be.

You see, Mr. Mason, in addition
to murder, there is now theft.

Some very valuable
assets of this

corporation have been
stolen from that safe.

You feel Mr. Chase
may have taken them?

Of course. They were
stock certificates in his name.

But he'd promised that we could
use them later on as collateral

for an essential loan
for the corporation.

But if you had stock powers
and a third-party release,

the stocks could actually
be used by you now, right?

His sister will certainly
verify that Mr. Chase

never gave me
any such authority.

I wasn't suggesting
he gave them to you.

- Perry.
- Excuse me, Mr. Vale.

- What do you have, Paul?
- Something that might be interesting.

Irene Chase was formerly married
to a man named Tony Benson,

but she didn't use that name
when she went to work for Chase,

and she didn't tell anyone
there she was married.

Know anything about Benson?

Yeah, he has a sporting goods
store over on Barclay Street.

Has a guy by the name of
Len Dykes working for him.

And here's another item:

a week after Chase's
first wife committed suicide,

Tony Benson divorced
Irene in Mexico.

All right.

We better see Mr. Benson.

Oh. Tony.

You look like something
that came up on the well rope.

What's the matter, Sylvia?

Haven't you heard?

Sure. Only where's
Len? I've got to see him.

I don't know. I
thought you knew.

Did Len kill her, Tony?

Now, why should Len shoot her?

Well, he was playing
around with her.

The paper said she was
killed at 12:00 last night.

He didn't get home till 1:00.

If I were you, Sylvia,
I'd forget all about that.

You think Len did it, don't you?

Forget it, I said.

Ah, there you are.

What's the idea of locking
me out of my own store?

Oh, sorry.

I want those stock powers, Len.

What?

You know what I'm talking about.

I've got the release forms at home,
and now I want those stock powers, too.

Tony, I wouldn't keep
those things around here,

not with the cops
crawling all over the place.

I, uh...

I've got them in a bus
station locker downtown.

Main station.

Signed?

I know when I'm
over a barrel, Tony.

Okay.

You going home now?

Sure. Nothing else to do.

Just because she's dead,
that doesn't purify you, Len.

Remember that.

Yeah, I'll remember that.

Well, that's the number.
That's Benson's place.

The only solution to the parking problem
in Los Angeles is to get rid of the cars.

Try around the corner.

Mr. Benson? My name
is Mason. I'm an attorney.

This is Mr. Paul Drake.

I've heard a lot
about you, Mr. Mason.

I think I know why you're here,
and I'll try and help you all I can.

A terrible thing, isn't
it? Won't you come in?

Mrs. Chase was once
your wife, I believe.

Legally, yes. She bought me off.

Bought a divorce the way
you buy a loaf of bread.

So she could make
a play for Ted Chase?

Him and his company.

Mr. Mason, if Irene
had lived a little longer,

she'd have gained control
of the Chase Enterprises,

lock, stock and barrel.

What did she buy you off with?

A sporting goods store.

That all?

Well, there was to be a little
more after she married Chase.

Here's the rest of the payment.

They're stocks. She gave
them to me a couple of days ago.

Roughly a hundred
thousand dollars' worth.

But these are registered
in the name of Ted Chase.

Even if you could sell them, the
money would have to go into his account.

Here's the release form.

I don't know how she
made him sign that,

but it authorizes the money from
the sale of his stock to go to me.

This is still useless without stock
powers to go with each of the certificates.

She was going to get
Chase to sign those, too.

She was trying to keep
Vale from finding out about it.

Only now...

Mr. Benson, you have a gunsmith
working for you named Len Dykes.

Did you know that his real
name was Herman Dickson?

That he served two
terms for forgery?

If Len Dykes did forge
some papers for Irene,

then her death leaves
him unprotected.

He must have thought
she'd given them to me.

I'd just barely opened the
door when you came in.

Ted Chase.

What's the matter with that man?

- He was hit on the head.
- There's only a bump.

That couldn't cause him to react
as though he had been drugged.

But there's no
evidence of any drug.

Well, it could be some
form of shock, couldn't it?

After all, he was knocked out,
and he is suspected of murder.

Perhaps. I'll run some
tests later, if you like.

You want me to
make that call now?

I don't know what hit me or who.

I couldn't find some stock certificates
in my office or any place else.

Finally, I...

I came up here to Tony
Benson's to see if he had them.

The door was already open.

And when I came
into this room...

That's all I remember.

Did you kill Irene?

Mason, have you ever
lived in a nightmare?

In a dream where you
couldn't tell right from wrong?

Did you ever live with a
woman who killed your wife,

terrified your children,
and stolen your belongings?

Ted, you do admit that you
made elaborate plans to kill Irene.

No. No, the plans
were for me, not her.

So you went through all this just so
you could be faced with the final test...

Would you pull the
trigger or wouldn't you?

I guess I was deeper in the
dream than I thought, huh?

Was I... Was I insane?

You know, it doesn't do
me much good now to know

to know that... to know
that I never could kill anyone.

Because what if
someone else watched me,

followed me,

and when I didn't pull
the trigger, they did?

You see, I can't even ask
you to defend me, Mason.

Because suppose that I made it
possible for someone else to kill?

Perry, I got Paul's phone call.

Thanks for being willing to
cooperate with us, Mr. Chase.

Your Honor, in spite of the fact
that this bullet was so damaged

by striking the stone fireplace

that it's impossible to
make a positive connection

between this bullet
and this rifle ballistically.

Nevertheless, would
you tell me this, sir?

What is the weight of this bullet you
found in the defendant's apartment?

158 grains.

And what weight bullet
is fired by this rifle fire?

158 grains.

Then Is it your
opinion that this bullet,

fired from this rifle could
have killed Irene Chase?

Well, she was
killed by a bullet.

That's the only one we found
in the apartment, so... yes.

Thank you, sir. I
think that'll be all.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Now, forgetting that
rifle for the moment,

could you tell me what
weight bullet is used

in the .357 Magnum handgun?

A 158-grain bullet.

And how many .357
Magnum handguns,

revolvers or automatics
have been made?

Ten? A hundred? A thousand?

Thousands.

Then that bullet could have
been fired not only by the rifle,

but by any one of
thousands of handguns?

Conceivably, yes.

Now, you've established
the trajectory of that bullet

through the decedent, the
chaise and on to the fireplace.

Is it your opinion,
as an expert,

that the decedent must have been
either sitting or reclining on that chaise

at the time she was killed?

She couldn't have
been anyplace else.

No, our medical examination of
the flesh and clothing of the decedent

disclosed no residue of
burned or unburned gun powder.

That means that that
rifle must've been fired

from a considerable distance
away from Mrs. Chase?

No. But it could not
have been close to her,

or there would have been
evidence of gun powder residue.

Now, Doctor, were you able
to establish the time of death?

Between 11:00 p.m.
and midnight, I'd say.

Thank you. That'll
be all. Your witness.

Doctor, in this matter of
powder burns or residue,

about how far away would a gun have
to be so as not to leave such residue?

Could it have been fired,
say, from 15 feet away?

At that distance, there would have been
no residue on the body of the decedent.

But 15 feet in the
established line of trajectory

would've put the gun
way outside the window.

Any closer inside the window,

there would have been
residue on the carpeting

between the window and chaise.

The police examined
that area very carefully.

There was not a trace of
gun powder residue anywhere.

When the thunder really
got loud, he left my bar.

Was he drunk?

No. No. He'd been drinking,
but I wouldn't say he was drunk.

In other words, he'd had enough
drinks to deaden his inhibitions,

but he wasn't too
drunk to shoot straight?

Strike that question.

You know better
than that, Mr. Burger.

I beg the court's
pardon, Your Honor.

That'll be all. Your witness.

I have no questions at
this time, Your Honor,

but if the prosecutor
will permit,

I would like the privilege of
recalling this witness later on.

Now, Mrs. Dykes, you've
stated that you live on the top floor

of the apartment building
where that rifle was found.

What did you see there the night
that Irene Chase was murdered?

Well, as I was came out of my
apartment at quarter of 12:00 that night,

I saw Mr. Chase get out of the
elevator and walk down the hall

to the door that
leads to the roof.

Thank you, Mrs.
Dykes. That'll be all.

Cross-examine, Mr. Mason?

Mrs. Dykes, you say you
left your apartment at 11:45.

What time did you return?

A little before 1:00, I guess.

Where did you go
during that time?

I... I went to the
neighborhood drugstore,

and a couple of
bars and places...

I... I was looking
for my husband.

Was one of those places
Irene Chase's apartment?

- No.
- Did you find your husband?

No, I didn't.

You say you went to the Chase
apartment shortly after midnight?

I manage pretty well, in
spite of the wheelchair.

You had a key to the
murdered woman's apartment?

Miss Chase, as a hostile
witness, you must answer.

I had a key to my
brother's apartment, yes.

And what did you
find when you went in?

I found that... that woman dead.

Then returned to your
home, and over an hour later,

you phoned the
police, anonymously.

Why did you wait so long?

I was waiting for my brother.

You were waiting to give your
brother time to hide, weren't you?

Your Honor,

this sort of heckling goes beyond the
leading questions allowed to prosecution.

Objection sustained.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

As you say, Miss Chase, you seem quite
able to get around despite your condition.

Now, are you also
able to fire a gun?

I'm a good shot with a pistol.

But a rifle is a little
too much for me.

Did you go to that apartment with the
intention of killing your sister-in-law?

I thought about it, yes.

But I did not find it necessary.

About two weeks before
Mrs. Chase was murdered,

the defendant made certain
accusations against you and his wife.

What were these accusations?

He accused me and his wife
of plotting to ruin his corporation.

Can you remember any
specific words he used?

To Irene, yes.

He said, "You're doing this.

You're doing
everything. I'll kill you."

He said, "Someday
I'm going to kill you."

Perry, you're going
to buy my lunch.

- Did that doctor get you that lab report?
- No. Take a look at this.

It looks like a burned...

Della, do we have a
blank stock power handy?

Where'd you get this, Paul?

The workshop in
Tony Benson's store.

Well, the bridle and the saddle,

and all we need is the horse.

Huh?

I'm afraid you'll
have to forego lunch.

I want you to stay
right on that suicide...

The death of the
first Mrs. Chase.

Well, I found this rifle
was missing from the store

the day after Mr. Chase was
in, carrying this big flower box.

See, it was one of several guns that I'd
been checking the sights on, so I noticed.

And there sure wasn't anybody else
who could have taken it during that time.

Can you tell us, of
your own knowledge,

if Ted Chase is a
good shot with a rifle?

Oh, he's one of the best.

That'll be all. Your witness.

Tell me, when you checked the sights
on those guns, did you also test-fire them?

Yeah. We got a range in the
basement. That's how you do it.

And you hadn't yet cleaned the
gun you believed Mr. Chase took?

Well, no, I guess not.

Now, Mr. Dykes... or
Mr. Dickson, whichever...

You've twice been
convicted of forgery.

I'm sure you know that a third
conviction could lead to life in prison?

Yeah, yeah. I know that.

I show you this release

that authorizes that money
from the sale of Mr. Chase's stock

to be paid to Tony Benson.

Now, did you forge Mr. Chase's
signature to this release?

May I remind you,
Mr. Mason, it is not a crime

to write someone's
name on a piece of paper

unless that piece of paper is used
legally to affect the rights of others?

I accept the
reminder, Mr. Burger.

And thank you, on
behalf of the witness,

for rushing to his aid
with a suggested answer.

Then you did
forge the signature?

Well, I was just fooling around.

I show you now

a remnant of a
burned stock power.

Now, were you
just fooling around

when you forged that signature?

Yeah, I guess I was.

And at the first opportunity
after the death of Irene Chase,

you burned the stock powers
you'd forged, did you not?

Well, I didn't wanna
leave them lying around.

Of course not.

But you still had to find
this release, did you not?

Because you knew that
it's discovery by anyone else

could send you back to prison.

Let's go back to the night
of the death of Irene Chase.

Did you, that night,
go to her apartment

looking for another
one of your forgeries...

A forgery with which she
had been blackmailing you?

No. No, I never went near Irene.

Well, sure, I saw her
earlier, but not that late.

Your Honor, I object to
all this wild exploration.

Mr. Mason himself has
helped bring out testimony

that the total lack of any trace of
powder residue in the murder apartment

proves conclusively that the decedent
could not have been shot at close range.

- Therefore...
- Objection sustained.

Since it is approaching the
hour for evening adjournment, I...

Very well, Your Honor. However,
with the court's permission,

I would like to postpone further
cross-examination of this witness

until I can present other evidence
which may prove that he's perjured himself.

Perry, this is Miss
Mabel Richmond.

Well, it all happened
some time ago.

You see, I work in the
beauty shop Irene went to.

And once she told me she
was hiding from her husband,

so she gave me a
round-trip ticket to Catalina.

So I went.

She asked me to use her name.

So I did.

Didn't the simultaneous
death of Betty Chase

make you realize that Irene might have
been using you for some sort of alibi?

But I didn't even know about it.

And I sure didn't know
Irene needed any alibi.

Mabel, you admitted you were pretty nervous
when a man came around asking questions.

A man named Smathers.

Oh, yeah. But that wasn't
any policeman or anything.

It was just a guy who dated
me and got sorta curious.

This man Smathers.
Where is he now?

Search me. He never came back.

All right. Thank you.

Uh, you'll be ready
at court tomorrow.

Perry, I also got
the lab analysis.

Any coffee, Della?

A woman's work is never done.

I-131.

What's the matter?

That's radioactive iodine.

Like in the fallout?

Used for metabolic
diseases, thyroid, and angina.

And the doc said it's an
odorless, colorless, tasteless liquid.

And enough of it can
reduce a human being

to nothing more
than a vegetable.

Sure, Mr. Chase came to
my bar almost every evening.

Not that he drank much.

But he'd sit there with a whiskey
and soda just... just thinking, I guess.

Now tell us this: did
you or the relief bartender

ever put anything into the defendant's
drinks other than whiskey and soda?

I don't follow you.

When my investigators talked to
your relief man, he mentioned that...

Oh, sure. You must
mean the vitamins.

Chase's wife asked me to do
it, because he needed them...

That he would never
remember to take them at home.

Is this the vitamins
to which you refer?

Yeah, it looks like it.

Your Honor, this
bottle contains I-131,

a radioactive iodine which, if given
in small doses over a period of time,

can render a man's mind
incapable of sound decisions,

even incapable of
telling right from wrong.

Well, had the defendant
been given this regularly?

He'd been given it
regularly, Your Honor,

without his
knowledge or consent.

But Irene said it
was only vitamins.

She swore to me it wasn't
really anything that could hurt him.

I tasted it.

Honest, I didn't know
it wasn't vitamins.

That's enough. Mr. Burger.

I think I should adjourn this hearing
until your office can look into this.

And also, Mr. Mason, I want
to consider the legal aspects

of a plea of insanity
due to destructive drugs.

You've only one more witness,
haven't you, Mr. Burger?

- That's right.
- And, Your Honor,

may I suggest that we
complete this hearing

just in case we find it not
necessary to enter such a plea?

Very well. But I wonder if it's in
the best interests of the defendant.

Mr. Benson you acquired the
ownership of your sporting goods store

the time of your divorce from your
first wife, the deceased Irene Chase.

- Is that correct?
- Yes, sir.

- And you hired Len Dykes?
- Yes.

Because of his
skill as an engraver.

Now, you tell us that
Len Dykes reported to you

the theft of the
rifle by Mr. Chase.

Why didn't you report
that theft to the police?

Ted Chase was a friend of
mine and a good customer.

I knew if he'd taken
it, he'd pay for it.

All right. So that will
be all. Your witness.

Mr. Benson,

going back to the time of the
suicide of the first Mrs. Chase,

did you ever wonder why
Irene, your wife at that time,

wasn't aboard a certain plane
to Catalina as she said she was?

I don't quite get the question.

Does the name Smathers
mean anything to you?

- Did you ever use that name?
- No.

A young woman by the name of Mabel
Richmond is waiting outside that door.

Didn't Mabel Richmond
once admit to you

that she used Irene's name
on that Catalina plane trip?

And didn't you then wonder why Irene
wanted to conceal her own whereabouts?

Or did you perhaps
think that someday

you might blackmail Irene
over the murder of Betty Chase?

I don't know anything
about any murder.

Irene later risked a very secure position
as Chase's wife by stealing from him.

She also risked imprisonment
as an accomplice to a forgery.

Now, would a woman as
shrewd and intelligent as she was

have risked all these things
without being forced to do it by you?

We made a bargain.

It didn't concern me where
the money came from.

That's right. You had the
stolen stock certificates.

You had the third-party release. All
you needed were the stock powers.

So on the night
of Irene's death,

you went to her apartment to
force her to give them to you.

When she wouldn't,
you killed her.

No. I'm not a fool.

I would have lost
$100,000 by killing her.

Why should I kill her?

Perhaps because
she wanted to kill you.

As long as you were alive,
you were a threat to her.

Maybe the two of you fought.

Objection, Your Honor.

It's been established,
repeatedly and beyond question,

that there was no trace of
powder burned or unburned

on the body of the decedent
or anywhere in the murder room.

And that therefore,
the gun that killed her

could not have been
fired inside that apartment.

That's well taken, Mr. Burger.

Mr. Mason, I agree. Much of your
evidence does seem to be irrelevant.

Your Honor, I'll attempt to
show the relevancy right now.

Suppose that inside
the apartment that night,

Irene suddenly
pulled a gun on you,

and you grabbed her...

No, no, you can't
pin this thing on me.

Suppose you were both
on the chaise at the time.

You struggled for the gun.

No, I tell you.

Suppose that gun went off.

You just heard Mr. Burger say the
shot couldn't have been fired in there.

Suppose Mr. Burger's wrong.

Suppose your right arm...

No, it's not true.

It is your right arm, isn't it?

Your Honor, upon a
doctor's examination,

I'm sure we'll find a bullet
wound in this man's arm.

There's your missing
powder residue, Mr. Burger.

Every single bit of it.

Now, I have the gun.

Ow. Oh, be careful. Ouch!

All right. Pow! The gun
goes off right against my arm.

All right. Now what do I do?

You fall down. You're dead.

Aw, what a pity.

Perry, I just dropped by
for a lesson in deduction.

What started you on the
suicide of Betty Chase?

I wish I could call
it deduction, Andy.

Let me read you these
notes of Betty Chase's.

"Darling, I've tried to make
you listen to me about Irene

and you won't
believe me, but now"...

This is the suicide note.

"I can't stand it any longer.

Darling, I know these are horrible words
to write, but it is the only way left.

Forgive me."

Well, they're both
part of one note.

And it's still not
even finished.

She was just about to tell him she
was going to expose Irene, somehow.

But Irene found
the last half of it,

saw that she could
use it as a suicide note.

The rest is rather ugly history.

I'm just thankful that
the whole thing is over

and that Ted and his sister and
children are going to be all right.

How about Vale?

This will be news to all of you.

While Ted's vacationing,

the Chase family has asked me to
represent them in their corporation.

Well, that will take
care of Mr. Charles Vale.

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