Original subtitles

Shouldn't we call the doctor again, Mr. Grover?

He said he'd be here in half an hour.

It's ten more minutes.

Less than a month ago, I laughed at her

when she talked about wills and gifts.

She was so alive, so well.

Where's the nurse... Mrs. Randall?

The doctor phoned in an order for medication.

Hetty went to the drugstore to pick it up.

There must be something we can do.

Stop fussing, Reed.

Bebe abhorred it in life,

and I'm sure she'd resent it in death.

Oh, shut up, Eloise.

Be a happy stoic, like your father.

Lawton looks like he's already figuring out where

to spend the money first.

Hetty...

What is it, Mrs. Brent?

Hetty?

Where's Hetty?

She went to the drugstore, darling.

She'll be right back.

Justin... in that drawer...

give me the envelope.

Here it is, Mrs. Brent.

All of you...

Eloise, Chester, Lawton, Reed,

I want you to be... witnesses...

Justin, the words.

What are the words I asked you about?

For the gift?

You mean, "gift causa mortis"?

"Gift in anticipation of death."

Irrevocable gift...

for my nurse, Hetty Randall.

Hetty's not here, Aunt Bebe.

You take it for her, Justin.

Agent for her.

Now, we went over it and over it, Bebe.

I told you this wasn't necessary.

Justin, please.

It's not like you to disregard my advice.

For the first time and the last...

humor me, Justin, please.

All right, you can give me the envelope.

I accept this envelope and its contents

for Mrs. Bebe Brent, the donor of the gift

as agent for Mrs. Hetty Randall, the donee of the gift.

Thank you, Justin.

Donor, donee, gift...

Will somebody please explain to me

what all this mumbo jumbo is all about?

I tried to tell her that

a simple codicil of the will would be sufficient,

but she wouldn't have it.

With Hetty, she insisted it had to be something special.

Well, I hope dear Bebe wasn't too generous.

Well, that depends on your meaning of generosity.

This is a certified check to Mrs. Hetty Randall

in the sum of one million dollars.

One mill...!

One million dollars!

You must be out of your mind, Grover.

I-I thought she was talking about a few thousand dollars.

This, I had no idea.

One million dollars?!

To just a nurse?

After more than 20 years in this house...

No, Dad, Hetty's always been more than just a nurse.

Justin, darling, this, um, this "causa mortis" gift stuff,

is-is that legal?

It is when the gift is actually delivered and received.

But it's all right.

Well, I mean, the check was never

actually delivered to Hetty.

It doesn't have to be.

Delivery can be legally accomplished

through a third person, as it was through me,

acting for the person for whom the gift was intended.

It's all nonsense.

Completely out of the question.

When Bebe wakes up,

we'll simply talk her out of it, that's all.

We'll just make her tear up that check.

Then what would happen, Justin?

Well, then the bank would release the money.

The million dollars would revert to the estate to be...

ultimately divided between Chester and Lawton.

Or the three of you, perhaps?

Hetty, you... you got back fast.

Well, I caught a cab outside the drugstore.

I took it the few blocks back here.

I wanted to get this medicine to Mrs. Brent

as fast as I could.

I'm afraid it won't help.

Bebe's dead.

Here we are! Come and get it!

Whew!

Ice-cold lemonade from a secret formula handed down

through umpteen generations of Brents

and now the sole and exclusive property of one Lawton Brent.

Mmm! Delicious.

You check with the club, Dad?

No problem. We can have it afternoon and evening both.

Wedding reception and dinner for my son

and his lovely bride to be, Miss Madeline Randolph.

Except by then, she'll be Mrs. Reed Brent.

How does that sound?

Mm, not bad.

Lawton, seriously, the wedding day,

do you think it's too soon after Bebe's death?

Not at all.

I spoke to her, as a matter of fact.

She was insistent.

She said that if she w...

if something happened to her,

she didn't want the two of you postponing the wedding.

Anybody home?

- Hello, Justin. - Good afternoon, Lawton.

- How are you Madeline, Reed? - Mr. Grover.

Well, it's getting pretty close to the day, isn't it?

The day or D-day?

Same difference.

Did you bring the company financial statement?

Right here.

Will you excuse us, young ones?

Uh, I have to run along, anyway.

Would you drop me at my mother's, Reed?

Will do.

Oh, by the way...

I received a rather annoying phone call this morning

from a man who said he was Hetty Randall's brother.

Max? He must be down from Oregon again.

Yes, that was it, Max Randall.

If you'll excuse my saying so,

he was a little offensive on the phone.

That doesn't sound like Max.

Apparently, he picked up a bit of misinformation

about a so-called gift from the estate.

A gift?

Now, these estate matters are complicated, time-consuming

and pretty involved.

How does a gift concern Uncle Max?

It doesn't.

The gift was for Hetty.

A gift for my mother?

About your uncle, it's nothing personal, you understand.

I'll speak to Uncle Max, Mr. Grover.

I'll speak to him and to my mother.

Thank you. That'll be fine.

Well, Lawton, you want to look at the statement?

Yes, let's go in the study.

Yes, Bebe did promise me a gift.

A check, she said.

Maybe she just forgot about it, Mom.

No, she didn't.

She told me she asked her doctor

to talk to some outside lawyer for her.

The doctor did.

Told her exactly what the lawyer said she had to do.

She did it herself.

She talked to a man at the bank.

He took care of it for her.

Brought her papers to sign and a certified check.

She told me so herself.

But I don't understand.

Did you tell the Brent's attorney?

I called Justin Grover this morning.

Oh, you had no right to.

Getting him all riled up like that.

Oh, it wasn't that bad, Mom, really.

Oh, bad enough.

I don't see my brother, sometimes, for years on end.

Is he busy? No.

Just bumming around from one lumber camp to another.

Finally he decides to see whether I'm dead or alive.

What happens?

He had five minutes, and he's poking his nose

where it doesn't belong.

I've got a right to see you get what's yours.

Course you do, Uncle Max.

And I'm sure whatever it was

that Aunt Bebe wanted mother to have,

Mr. Grover will see that she gets it

without anyone pushing him.

See? Madeline talks good sense.

There's no need for anybody to call, push, do anything.

Nobody, hear?

- Yeah. - I've got some shopping to do.

Call you later, Mom, from my apartment.

All right.

Uncle Max, you'll be staying for the wedding, won't you?

Oh, of course, don't be silly.

That's what I came down for, kitten.

Let's get together for lunch or dinner, okay?

I don't get to see very much of you and...

well, you and mom are the only family I have.

Not after you marry into the Brents.

Oh!

You take care now, Madeline.

All right, Mom.

And that last, about the family.

Now why didn't you just come right out and say

she shouldn't marry a Brent?

Maybe I should have.

They're a bunch of greedy crooks, all of them.

That's not true. Reed's a fine boy.

Is he? Wasn't he there in that room when Bebe died?

And you mean to say that he doesn't know happened...

Everything that happened?

I suppose he told her, Madeline, the girl he's going to marry?

Huh! I bet he told her all about it.

Now you look here... I know what I'm doing.

Oh, Max, I swear, outside of knowing how to cut down a tree,

you haven't got the sense you were born with.

Now you stay out of this!

Bebe trusted Mr. Grover.

He's a smart lawyer.

All right, I'm no smart lawyer, maybe,

but who needs brains?

This kind of phony fast shuffle I can smell.

Oh, Max, you're always...

Oh, Madeline left her glove.

Madeline, you...

What are you talking about, Madeline?

Some sort of gift from Aunt Bebe to my mother.

I can't make it any plainer than that.

Bebe was dying, you know, everybody was excited, upset,

waiting for the doctor.

Things could have been said, I suppose.

I mean, things that nobody...

Well, at least... least not so that everybody could hear.

Oh, Reed, stop double-talking and make some sense!

Madeline, I'm only trying to explain.

Well, you're doing a miserable job of it.

Now just answer one simple question... yes or no.

Did Aunt Bebe do or say anything about a gift,

a check intended for my mother?

Look, Madeline, I told you what it was like in that room.

It's impossible to say exactly what did happen.

Come on, let's talk about the wedding.

- Reed... - I told Dad that I'd... I'd like

- to have some of the old cr... - Reed!

What is it?

There's something you're not telling me.

Madeline, you've got to understand that I can't.

I thought I knew you.

Knew what kind of a man you were.

The kind of man I wanted to marry.

I hope I wasn't wrong.

Madeline, please...

She knows about the check?

- Did you think she wouldn't know? - Did you tell...

Did I lie to protect you?

Reed, boy, I need time. Time!

You know that.

But you told me yourself there was a gift to my mother.

Do you also remember agreeing to speak to your mother

and your uncle about the time I need in this matter?

But I don't understand.

Is there or isn't there a gift?

Yes, yes, yes! I told you!

The papers are right here in my briefcase.

Well then, why are you holding on to them?

Why not just give the gift to my mother?

Miss Randall, I'll explain it again,

and please try to understand.

It's a question of time.

Time, Miss Randall.

Now, if you'll just...

Yes? What is it, Carla?

Uh, that Mr. what's-his-name...

You know, from the factory...

Well, he said he just has to see you.

Now, he says, and it can't wait.

And you're already ten minutes late

for your appointment with Judge Penner.

Oh, and your partner called,

and he said that he would see you at the judge's,

so don't be late.

And, oh, and the man from the factory

said that you should call him right back.

Fine, Carla, fine.

Now, Miss Randall,

if you leave word with Miss Eden,

my secretary, where I can reach you,

I'll try to get in touch with you in the next day or two.

Excuse me.

Oh, Carla, phone the judge and tell him I'm on my way.

But what about the man at the factory?

Busy man, Mr. Grover.

Miss Eden...

from the time Mr. Grover steps on a button

or pushes a signal from behind his desk,

how long does it take you to get in here?

Oh, half a minute, no more.

He doesn't like it to take too long

when he has someone in the office he wants to get rid o...

You can tell your Mr. Grover not to waste his time calling me.

I'll be seeing him whether he likes it or not!

Upstairs, right up there, in this house, Bebe died.

I was right there in her bedroom,

and so was Eloise, and so was Lawton,

and so was Reed.

And I don't care what Grover said, he was wrong.

And let me tell you this, girl, once and for all.

That despite your insulting and fantastic suspicions,

there was no gift, no check,

and not one word said about your mother.

You're not any better than the lawyer or Reed,

all of you.

I know it; I feel it.

You're all lying.

- What? - Chester... Dear Madeline,

we have a cocktail party and a dinner to go to,

and if we don't hurry, we're going to be dreadfully late.

So, why don't you just be a little darling

and run along and let us finish dressing.

I'm not going to let you get away with it.

Aunt Bebe's doctor spoke to a lawyer for her.

I'm going to find out who he is and see him!

Good! Good!

Maybe he can convince you

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

And now, if you'll excuse us please,

we're late.

Mr. Mason, Aunt Bebe's doctor told me he spoke to you,

and that Aunt Bebe did exactly as you advised.

Now, what could be wrong?

Evidently, Mrs. Brent felt that if she left the bequest

to your mother in the usual way, through her will,

there might be some difficulty.

How?

Well, I imagine she felt the remaining heirs

might possibly contest the will.

That just can't be, Mr. Mason.

We've lived in that house ever since Mother was widowed,

for over 20 years.

We've been like... like part of the family.

Probate courts are filled

with families fighting over inheritances.

What you're saying, then, is that this gift

couldn't be contested like a will could.

Well, if the gift was given by Mrs. Brent

to Justin Grover's agent for your mother,

it probably couldn't be contested.

Only probably?

Della?

Second.

I have it marked, Perry.

The courts have said that a non-testamentary gift

from patient to nurse was invalid

on the grounds of undue influence.

The courts state the fact that the grantor

was lacking in mental vigor as a reason to protect the grantor.

Bebe Brent wasn't out of her mind, never.

Even though the mental weakness was not such to justify

regarding the grantor as totally incapacitated.

Mr. Mason, at this point, I honestly don't know

whether you're encouraging me or discouraging me.

I'm giving you the situation as it is.

You said that almost as if you intend

to take my mother's case.

Miss Randall,

did you for one moment imagine I wouldn't?

We'll get on it in the morning.

First a call on the bank,

and then a call on attorney Justin Grover.

Thank you, Mr. Mason.

Madeline, please, listen to me for just a moment.

I know it sounds trite, but whatever you have to say,

I suggest you say it to Perry Mason, my attorney.

Madeline, I will see your lawyer.

To tell him the truth.

I'm listening, Reed.

Apologizing doesn't mean anything.

And I can't explain why.

I can't for the same reason I thought I had to lie.

The-the same reason why I'm not living at home.

Yes, you were right.

I heard it; I saw it.

Bebe said unmistakably it was a gift to your mother.

"An irrevocable gift," she said,

and she gave the million dollar check

to Mr. Grover.

A million dollars?

Didn't you know?

It doesn't matter.

Madeline, I love you; please believe that.

I love you, and I want to marry you.

A million dollars...?

Hello?

This is Justin Grover.

I'd like to speak to Hetty Randall, please.

My mother isn't here, Mr. Grover.

This is Madeline, and I'd like to talk to you.

Reed Brent was just here, and he told me that...

I don't care what Reed or anybody in the family told you.

He told me about the check.

The million dollars.

Now, I want to know why you kept that check.

Well, since your mother isn't there,

and you're determined to involve yourself in this,

I'll talk to you...

Uh, in an hour, Miss Randall.

If you come here to my house alone,

I'll tell you why.

Inside, back there in the house, there's a man.

Justin! Justin Grover!

No, lady... there was a man.

Miss Randall, Justin Grover died in that fire...

A fire for which you were responsible.

But I told you what happened, Mr. Burger.

I ran into the kitchen, tripped, and fell against the table.

Which struck the defective heater and started the fire.

Yes, but I didn't know it at the time.

When I fell, I must have struck my head.

When I came to, the-the place was filled with fire and smoke.

I know I started the fire, Mr. Burger,

but it was an accident...

An unintentional accident.

Of course, you tried to reach Justin Grover

to make sure he wasn't trapped in that unintentional fire?

The flames were everywhere.

I couldn't get to him, to anything!

Except the briefcase.

You got to that, didn't you?

- My mother's check was... - That's all, Miss Randall.

You've been more than cooperative

with the district attorney.

Hamilton, if you don't mind,

I'd like to speak with my client.

Be my guest.

Paul, Miss Randall.

I told you I would speak with him in the morning.

Why did you go

to Justin Grover's house that night?

I spoke to him on the phone.

He said that if I'd come over in an hour,

he'd tell me what I wanted to know.

You reached his house; he didn't answer the bell.

The door was open, so you just walked in.

- Yes. - No.

What?

The front door was locked.

I closed it after I came in.

The back door was jimmied open.

Well, then the police must think that I...

Broke and entered.

Specifications one and two on a charge of burglary,

and burglary, Miss Randall, is a felony.

Mr. Mason?

We're here to help you, Miss Randall,

but we must know exactly what we're faced with.

Now, the front door was open.

You no sooner walked into the house

when you heard a noise.

You went into the kitchen.

Tripped and fell against the table.

And you saw a man in the kitchen.

Yes, in the shadows, in the rear of the kitchen.

His back was to me, but I suppose it was Justin Grover.

Justin Grover's body was found

behind the desk on the study floor.

Mr. Mason, I told you,

when I came to, there was fire and smoke.

I was frightened!

I ran through the house, looking for a way out.

I ran into the study... Or whatever it was...

And the briefcase was on the desk, and I just grabbed it.

And didn't see Grover's body, not ten feet away?

I told you, the place was filled with smoke.

Mr. Mason, I didn't deliberately set fire to the house.

Why am I here?

When the policeman stopped you outside the house,

you had Justin Grover's briefcase.

Of course, the papers were in there, and my mother's check.

That briefcase was Grover's personal property.

Taking it from the house

made you technically guilty of burglary.

Are they gonna try me for that?

No, you'll be tried under the felony murder rule.

Murder?!

By definition, under the law,

committing a felony is acting maliciously.

When that malicious, felonious act

is the proximate cause of the death of a human being,

even an accidental death...

The malice of the felony

becomes the malice aforethought in the death,

and you end up with homicide.

I'm afraid, Miss Randall,

you're not only gonna be charged with murder,

but murder in the first degree.

You sign here and here and here.

Just the legal forms for court,

to recover that check when the authorities release it.

Hetty... why would a, uh,

dying woman give one million dollars to a nurse?

Why not?

We were good friends.

You're lying, Hetty.

You know, but you won't tell.

It doesn't make any difference.

It could make the difference between life and death

for your daughter.

No, that's not true.

Hetty, are you afraid the truth might hurt your daughter?

I, uh, I think you'd better leave now.

Both of you.

Hetty, please listen to me.

You're a famous man, Mr. Mason.

The best lawyer there is.

You'll get her off, I know.

All right, Della.

Let's go.

All you private eyes are the same.

Just like the movies.

All you have to do is smile,

and the girls are supposed to swoon.

Well, stop with the smile, shamus,

this one doesn't swoon.

I just thought you could tell me what the police found out

about your boss and the Brents.

Look, mister,

I was private secretary to Mr. Justin Grover, Esquire.

And "private," gumshoe, means just that... private.

Well, c'est la guerre.

No, thanks, I don't smoke.

Say it again.

Say it again, what you just said.

No, thanks, I don't smoke...?

I knew it, I knew it.

Carla Eden.

I thought I'd seen you before,

in Abe Schooler's private projection room.

Best friend I've got, Abe.

He's head talent scout for the network.

Sure, I should've remembered.

The three screen tests for the running lead in the series.

You're one of the girls Abe tested.

The... the network?

Eh, no, that's a dumb mistake.

- It wasn't you. - Well, look, mister...

Poor Abe.

He thought he'd rounded up the three best-looking gals in town.

But he hadn't seen you... No, sirree.

But this friend Abe... Abe what?

Schooler. Well, gotta run along.

Oh, no, please!

Uh... this Abe Schooler...

did you say he was a talent scout?

Before you are notified in the usual manner,

I think it best to talk the situation over.

We might possibly avoid

unnecessary and expensive litigation.

That's just lawyer language

to tell us that you're gonna try to shoehorn us

out of a million dollars.

I thought you were representing the girl,

- not the nurse. - Both.

Naturally.

Murder defenses are oh-so-expensive.

That was uncalled for, Eloise.

My, my.

The saintly one of the brothers.

With his noblesse oblige.

I take it you're prepared

to keep your pinky properly elevated

while you turn over your half million.

Not his, and not mine.

Hetty won't get one penny of that money, I promise you.

That isn't so, Chester.

She will.

After my son and I...

after we both testify.

All right.

We know now where we stand.

There were four of us in that room.

You and your son say, "Yes, the check was delivered."

We say, "No, it wasn't."

Unfortunately for the "no" Brents,

the score isn't two to two,

but three to two.

Well, what do you know?

I take it that the late Justin Grover will testify

via Ouija board, huh?

Or will the court prefer table-rapping and ectoplasm?

Neither.

Paul?

In his office diary,

Justin Grover executed a full statement,

acknowledging that he had, as agent for Hetty Randall,

received that check.

Bebe Brent was sick, half out of her mind.

Bebe Brent's personal physician is prepared to testify that

mentally, she was completely competent.

But a million dollars to a nurse?

That doesn't make sense.

Oh, yes, it does.

You all know Lieutenant Anderson.

They sure do, Perry.

We've been seeing a lot of each other.

About the gift to Hetty Randall?

Yes, the, uh, check.

Well, it wasn't actually meant for the nurse.

From what we could tell,

Hetty Randall was just a go-between.

The million dollars was meant for somebody else.

Somebody else?

Madeline Randall?

I'm afraid that's right.

Madeline Randall.

You see, actually,

Madeline Randall is Bebe Brent's daughter.

Bebe's husband, my late brother Phillip,

went on a business trip to Europe.

That was over 20 years ago.

And that was the trip on which Bebe's husband

was caught in an avalanche while skiing,

and officially reported dead?

That's right.

It wasn't till about 14 months later that I got word

that a man was found in a small hospital.

A man who might be my brother.

Bebe was away on a trip.

She had been for some time.

So I went to Europe to investigate.

And was it your brother?

What was left of him.

He didn't even recognize me.

Really?

Did he recognize anyone in the family?

No.

Bebe, once I got him home.

Tell me, Mr. Brent,

how long did your brother Phillip live

after you brought him home?

Until a few months ago.

All those years of slow death for Bebe.

Taking care of him just about killed her, I guess.

Well, when Chester called from Switzerland

that he had found Phil alive,

I immediately wired Bebe.

She was in Oregon at the time, I believe.

You mean she was living in Oregon?

I'm pretty sure it was Oregon.

You see, in the 14 months after Phil's death,

well, she was running so hard,

and so fast, that it was simply impossible

to keep up with her!

Well, what do you mean, "running," Mrs. Brent?

Well, I...

I suppose she really did love her husband,

and when the report of his death came to her,

well, the... the poor girl simply went to pieces.

I mean, she... she never was very stable, you know, mentally.

Well, I mean, you take the matter of that check...

Not right now, Mrs. Brent, please.

- Oh. - That's a matter for another jurisdiction.

- All right. - Now would you tell this court

in what way, during those 14 months,

Bebe Brent "went to pieces"?

Well... there was this cowboy...

Or whatever the man did for a living.

Cowboy?

That must have been in Nevada.

So, of course, Chester went to investigate.

Well, by the time he got there,

she had gone, and he never did locate this cowboy creature.

- I see. - Mm-hmm.

Now, when you learned that her husband was still alive,

- and you wired her in Oregon... - Mm-hmm.

Did she return at once?

Well, actually, no.

You see, she wired back that she was driving down,

but it was some time before she arrived in Los Angeles.

We got a message.

Bebe had been injured

in an automobile accident

in a little town north of San Francisco.

And she arrived about a week later.

You see, it was nothing serious.

I mean, she was just sort of shaken up.

Or so I thought at the time.

I have here authenticated birth records

and hospital admittance records,

plus the sworn statements of two doctors and a nurse.

All of whom have identified

photographs of you and Bebe Brent,

and who are prepared to swear

that not you but Bebe Brent

was the mother of the defendant.

Do you wish, at this time, to deny this?

No.

There wouldn't be much sense to that.

I was Bebe's nurse.

Bebe was Madeline's mother.

There she was,

poor girl, hurt in that auto smash-up.

Her baby coming sooner than she expected.

Her own true legal husband,

whom she thought was dead,

was on his way home to her.

He-he was sick.

A man y-you couldn't talk to.

Explain things to.

She didn't know what to do.

I lied on the records.

Said I was married.

Listed the child as my own.

Bebe needed help with Mr. Brent,

and it gave her a chance to see her own child

whenever she wanted to.

Bebe loved her.

Truly loved her.

We both did.

She had two mothers, my little Madeline.

Then you knew all about the check

Bebe planned to give you.

Not for me.

It was for Madeline.

Bebe had it planned.

She would give me the check as a gift,

and I would set up a trust fund for Madeline.

Mr. Brent, you've already been declared a hostile witness,

and I warn you, I shall move to have you cited for contempt

unless you are more responsive.

Now, when you saw Madeline Randall early that evening,

was she aware that that check was meant for her?

How should I know?

I'm not a mind-reader.

Mr. Brent!

Did she say or do anything

to indicate her knowledge that it was her money

Justin Grover was withholding, and not her mother's?

- No, nothing. - You're sure of that?

Of course I'm sure!

She didn't even know how much the check was for.

Huh. But you told her, didn't you?

Yes, I told her.

Phil... Bebe's husband...

Founded the business, and owned it.

Chester and I worked for him.

When Phil Brent finally returned from his skiing accident,

did he continue to run the business?

His condition made that impossible.

Bebe ran the business

through Justin Grover, the company attorney.

Nominally, I was president of the company.

And your resistance, shall we say,

to Bebe Brent's gift to her nurse

was because you thought that

might adversely affect the company?

Yes.

Bebe respected Phil's love of the business,

his desire that it remain with his brothers.

She didn't know, even then, any more than I did,

that the company was in urgent need

of all the capital in Phil's estate.

And that urgent need of the company

was why you all fought against payment of the check.

The business was in delicate condition financially.

I wanted to strengthen the company's position financially

before the gift was publicized.

Did you ever hear the defendant admit that she knew,

knew as a fact,

that Justin Grover was withholding

a one-million-dollar check that belonged to her?

She...

she said she knew about the check,

how much it was for, after she spoke to my son.

And you spoke to her after your son spoke to her,

isn't that correct?

So you then went to see her,

to explain, is that it?

And to apologize.

And beg her forgiveness.

And she told you then that she knew the check was hers?

Mr. Burger, for what happened we must all share responsibility.

You're not answering what I asked you, Mr. Brent.

I said, did she say anything

to indicate that she knew that check was hers?

She told me that she knew Bebe, not Hetty, was her mother.

She was upset, Mr. Burger.

What else did she say about the check?

She said she would get that check back from Justin Grover,

even if... I'm sorry, Madeline.

Desperately sorry.

She would get her own check back from Justin Grover

even if she had to light a fire under him to get it.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Mason...

you haven't questioned one of the witnesses

thus far in the preliminary hearing.

Do you wish to cross-examine this witness?

No questions, Your Honor.

Not a word in the courtroom all day,

and nothing since we've been in the office.

Here's your coffee.

Perry, do you feel all right?

I'm fine.

Well, how'd you do?

That crystal ball you have hidden somewhere

is batting a cool thousand percent.

- There was a shortage. - Yep.

The Brent brothers' little business

came up 150 grand short in preliminary probate.

Embezzlement.

Get anything from Carla Eden?

Justin Grover's secretary's a real cute one.

"Insurance shamus?" says she.

"A girl's got to look out for number one."

Well, she did.

Cost you the price of a privately shot screen test.

Directed by one Abe Schooler,

whom I've never laid eyes on before in my life.

I've known him for years.

He called, and I okayed it.

Well, what did you find out?

Well, I told her I'd heard a whisper here and there,

and she might just as well confirm it for me.

Finally, she did.

Justin Grover's been running around with some woman

strictly on the Q.T.

Identity of said woman, unknown.

Perry, you knew there would be a shortage.

Do you know who's responsible for it?

Who the embezzler was?

Yes, Paul told me.

I did?

Did I also tell you who Grover's girlfriend was?

Well, of course.

Would you mind telling me what I told you,

so I'll know too?

Paul, as soon as you've checked on some things for me,

you'll know who killed Justin Grover, too.

But if Madeline Randall was responsible for his death...

I-I mean, she did start the fire.

Did she?

Well, when that signal sounded,

I just grabbed up a pad and went scooting into the office.

Let me tell you,

Mr. Grover didn't care to be kept waiting

- when he sounded that signal. - Miss Eden...

Well, only a couple of days before that,

when he sounded that signal,

I was given a piece of his mind...

- Miss Eden, please. - Let me tell you.

Oh, did you say something?

Yes.

Yes, I did!

I asked you, Miss Eden,

whether the defendant, Madeline Randall,

was aware that Justin Grover had deliberately signaled you

to interrupt her conversation with him?

Oh, sure, she was.

She pointed that out to me herself.

And she was real mad too.

And what did she say at that time?

"I'll be seeing him," she said,

"whether he likes it or not."

Thank you.

All right, Mrs. Taylor, you testified that

you lived next door to the decedent Justin Grover.

And that on the night in question,

you heard voices raised in argument next door.

- Is that correct? - That's right.

His voice... Mr. Grover's, poor man... and another voice.

Could you tell if this other voice was a woman's voice?

Well, I couldn't say for sure.

It might have been, it might not have been.

I see.

The defendant, in her statement to the police,

claimed that she entered the house,

and within a minute or less was unconscious in the kitchen.

Would what you heard bear that out?

I'm afraid not, sir.

They'd been at it for 15 minutes, the two of them.

I phoned the police and the police didn't get there

for another ten minutes.

When my partner and I arrived,

the place was starting to burn real bad.

He went around to the front and I took the back.

And what happened?

I saw her, the defendant,

running out the back door; she was heading for the back gate.

I stopped her, she was carrying that briefcase,

and I took it from her.

It was a severe laceration and contusions on the head,

caused by a blow from some blunt object.

But the immediate cause of Justin Grover's death

was carbon monoxide inhalation.

Brought on by what, Doctor?

Smoke.

Legally, the approximate cause of Justin Grover's death

was that fire.

Your Honor, whether the defendant is charged

with a murder committed during the perpetration of a burglary,

the only criminal intent the prosecution has to show,

is the specific intent to burglarize the victim.

The State is not required to prove a deliberate,

premeditated killing or even to prove the intent to kill.

Burglary of an inhabited dwelling place in the nighttime

is a felony.

In this case, we had entry without consent,

we had a clear intent to burglarize,

and we had possession of stolen property.

Therefore, Your Honor,

under Penal Code Section 189, concerning homicide

perpetrated during the commission of a burglary,

I move, under the felony murder rule,

that the defendant Madeline Randall

be bound over to Superior Court on a charge of

Murder in the First Degree.

Mr. Mason... before ruling on the motion,

may I ask if you plan to present a defense at this hearing?

I do, Your Honor.

Please proceed.

May I call the attention of the court to the fact that,

under the felony murder rule,

the doing of the act does not establish

the existence of the intent.

And the prosecution must present independent evidence

of the intent to steal.

May I further respectfully point out to the court,

that motive and intent are not synonymous.

The court will take note of your comments, Mr. Mason.

Defense calls, as its first witness,

Max Randall.

When Madeline met Reed,

she found out there'd been a check

and the amount of that check.

She went into the house, answered Grover's call,

went home to her own apartment,

met Lawton Brent.

At that time, she not only knew about the check,

but she knew that she was Bebe Brent's daughter.

And she found that out from you, Mr. Randall.

Did she not?

Well, yes, I thought she should know.

Not out of any concern for your own possible enrichment,

but purely out of concern for your sister

and for Madeline Randall.

That's right.

You were fond of the girl?

Yes, fond.

Fond enough, when Madeline went home,

to go yourself to Justin Grover's house?

Yes, I went there.

Went in through the back gate, jimmied opened the back door

and went into the kitchen.

Yes.

Why, Mr. Randall?

Well, when Madeline left me, I...

I got to thinking... I knew that check was certified,

that it was good, that the bank would honor it.

I... well, I...

I decided to get it for the girl.

What happened Mr. Randall?

Well, nothing I, uh,

I never got beyond the kitchen.

Uh, the place was dark,

I-I heard the front doorbell ring, somebody coming in.

I turned to leave

and I bumped into a table or something

and knocked it into the middle of the room.

It was Madeline, just entering the house,

who heard you in the kitchen and came in.

Came in, tripped, hit her head

and fell unconscious to the floor.

I was panicky, I...

I just ran; I got out and ran.

I didn't know it was Madeline laying on the floor.

I didn't know she was going there.

Max... all those years,

why was Madeline's identity kept secret?

Madeline, a pretty helpless little thing.

Hetty didn't want her to know her real mother

had no legal right to marry while her husband was alive,

even though she didn't know he was.

And that Madeline was...

was therefore illegitimate.

And Bebe thought her husband had been killed, she remarried.

Oh, it was kind of a wild, crazy sort of thing.

You know, a woman brokenhearted because

the man she loved, really loved, had just been killed.

She was at... well, at the end of her rope.

One night she, well, she wasn't drunk or anything like that,

but she was really down, sick inside.

Anyway, she and, well, this other guy, they,

they ran off and got married.

And Bebe heard that her first husband was still alive.

Max...

when you told Madeline that Bebe Brent was her mother...

did you tell her that you were her father?

Did you, Max?

No.

No, I didn't.

You were there in that house before either Max or Madeline.

Yes, I was there... considerably earlier.

To tell Justin Grover that you knew

who had embezzled $150,000 from the company.

Yes.

When Bebe became seriously ill,

I had the company books checked.

I discovered the shortage then.

And suspected your brother Chester?

Yes.

That's why you pleaded with your son for time...

To find out the truth, to help Chester make restitution

to keep your brother out of jail.

Chester was greedy but not that greedy.

He was not the embezzler.

Then you discovered the truth,

that the embezzler was Justin Grover himself.

You went to his house... confronted him.

What did he say?

He insisted that from the moment Bebe made the gift of the check,

he'd been desperately trying to return to the company

the money that he had... had taken.

Had he returned the money?

Some of it.

I left because he was expecting a visitor.

Someone who was involved in the embezzlement with him.

Someone who might return the rest of the money.

This visitor...

did Justin Grover tell you his visitor was a woman...

a woman he'd been seeing for years...

secretly?

No, no, it isn't true.

Well, sure, I saw him every now and then,

but it wasn't me!

It couldn't have been me.

Oh, Chester, you gotta believe me.

I didn't!

I swear I didn't!

Why don't you just shut up?

Well, maybe I did know,

but that was no reason for my blabbing so much

to that detective of yours.

Justin Grover had been seeing Eloise Brent.

Well, I certainly don't blame him,

the way she was...

Well, you know what I mean.

The way she was always throwing herself at him.

Justin Grover and Eloise Brent,

breaking not one, but two commandments.

He coveted another man's wife, and together they robbed

the Brent Company of over a quarter of a million dollars.

Oh, no, it was only a hundred and fifty thou...

Oh, well, uh, as I told your detective,

they, uh, they were just very close

and, and that's all I know.

Of course.

By the way, the screen test Mr. Drake arranged for you

with Abe Schooler...

Did it come out all right?

Oh, uh... Oh, yeah, sure.

Great.

As great as your first screen test?

M-My first?

Abe Schooler has an amazing memory,

not for names, but for faces.

He remembered yours from a screen test you took

three years ago, at a major studio.

Well, I... I, I don't understand.

Don't you remember the contract you were offered?

The contract that was to start at $500 a week?

Five...

Then suddenly, you didn't take that contract.

Instead, you went to work for Grover,

at $100 a week.

Why, Carla?

Y-You don't know what you're talking about.

The shamus, Mr. Paul Drake,

the detective you thought you'd stalled

and lied to and made fun of,

he did some checking, Carla.

He found the little suburban bank where you keep

your safe deposit box.

Now,

will you tell us what's in that box, Carla?

Or must we get a court order from the judge?

Oh, that fool.

That stupid fool.

"Ethics," he said.

All of a sudden legal ethics were keeping him awake nights.

His conscience was bothering him.

I worked with him for three years

bilking the company of that money.

Three years!

I had over $100,000 in that box.

He insisted you return it?

Yes.

He was going to call the police to turn us both in.

I tried to stop him.

We struggled.

I picked something up from the desk,

and I hit him.

You were there, hidden in the house,

when Max came in, when Madeline struck her head

and fell unconscious.

Now, tell me, Carla, Max was gone,

Justin and the girl were unconscious.

That defective heater by itself

wasn't enough to start the fire.

You helped start that fire, didn't you?

Well, all I could think of was how to stop him from talking.

And the heater was leaking gas.

Burning.

So I grabbed the window curtains,

and I tossed them near the heater.

That fire really started to burn then.

I went back to the study and Justin was lying there.

I left him there

and I went outside, and I drove away in my car.

Well, I couldn't give him back that money.

It was mine.

Mine.

I had to have it!

What are you gonna use the money for now, Carla?

Here you are, Perry.

Just what you ordered.

Here, Max, this is for you.

California codes.

It's marked... read Section 85.

You said something on the stand about Madeline,

a misconception a lot of people have.

"The issue of a marriage which is void,

"or annulled, or dissolved by divorce...

is legitimate."

There you are... Madeline Randall has always been legitimate.

Madeline Brent, if you please.

And don't tell me there's anything wrong with that.

Hey, how about that?

That's right, Dad. How about that?