All language subtitles for Penguin Pool Murder (1932).bul.eng2

The Penguin Pool Murder

I want to talk to Parker himself,
no one else!

What?

You tell Mr. Parker he had better talk
to me if he knows what's good for him!

Mr. Hemingway insists on speaking to you.

I told you I didn't want to...

All right, I'll talk to him.

Hello, Hemingway!
Yes, too bad about your stock.

Had to let it go.

Too bad? You cheap swindler, you!

You sold me out when the stock
went down 5 points...

and charged me with a whole
20 points the lot!

Oh, you're crazy, man.
I've been swamped with selling orders.

- I took care of you in turn.
- Liar! Cheat!

You ruined me, you robbed me.
And when I see you I'll...

If Hemingway calls again
or comes here, I'm not in!

Very well. You're taking Mrs. Parker
to the theater this evening.

- It's five-thirty now.
- Oh, yes.

Gwen, I'd forgotten.
I'll have to hurry.

Oh, I know you need the money, darling.

But Jerry sunk everything in the market.

We're broke.

Oh, of course I love you, darling.
I'd do anything.

But where can I get $5,000
by Wednesday?

Oh, no, no, no, it's impossible.

All he has left is his insurance.

And that's no help unless...

Hello?

Hello. Hello.

Philip?
Yes, it's really Gwen.

A lifetime?

You can still say those nice things,
can't you, Philip?

You once told me that if I ever
needed help, I only had to call you.

Well, I must see you. Some place where
we won't be noticed.

Oh, I knew you wouldn't fail me.
Goodbye, Philip.

Dear.

Oh, hello, Jerry, you're late.

You were talking to Philip Seymour.
- I can't help it if he calls me up, can I?

You swore to me that you'd
never see him again.

- I didn't see him!
- You're lying!

I'm sick of your suspicions
and jealousies!

I wish I'd never married you, I...

That ends it! I'm through!

Do you hear me? I'm through with you!

Gwen!

Oh, Mrs. Parker!

- Phil, I've broken with Gerald for good.
- What's happened?

Oh, he's been a beast ever since
the day I married him, but...

- Last night he struck me.
- Struck you?

I wish I'd been there.

Oh, Phil, I should have married you,
poverty and all.

Gwen, darling.

Serves me right that you've been
so successful, but...

Oh, Phil, you've got to help me. I've made
up my mind. I'm going to divorce him!

Of course I'll help you.

Let me telephone the office that I won't
be back today and we can talk it all over.

- Oh, but...
- Wait right here, I won't be a minute.

What's that? My wife?

Who is this talking?

Hello, hello!

Why don't you watch
where you're going?

You clumsy fool!

Thanks.

I'd leave him today.

But he's put all my money into
the market trying to save himself.

Well, I can let you have
whatever you...

- What are you doing here with this man?
- Why, I...

- We just happened to be here and...
- He's your lover, isn't he, Philip Seymour?

- He was your lover before you married me.
- No, that's not true!

Look here, you fool, you don't know
what you're talking about.

You think you can break up my home,
steal my wife? Why you...

Steady!

- What have you done?
- Nothing, he'll come out of it.

Walk slowly to the entrance.
I'll meet you there.

- What are you going to do?
- Go on.

Oh, Mrs. Taxman, what
funny-looking sardines.

Help! Somebody stop that man!

Stop him, he's got my bag!

That man with the dark blue coat on,
he took my bag!

It had all my money... I don't know...

Stop him, he's got my bag!

Ah, children, you see?

Never try to evade the law with
an umbrella between your legs.

Honesty, young man, is the best policy.

Come, get up, get up, get up.

- Isadore!
- Yes, Miss Withers.

- Isadore, pick up that pocketbook.
- Yes, ma'am.

Come, come. You're not lending money
on it. Hand it over quickly, quickly!

Aha! A pickpocket, eh?

Hm, the man's a born detective.

What's all this fuss about?

- Hello, Fink, what's up?
- It's a pickpocket.

Chicago Lew, huh?

It's him all right.

We've been looking for him for
two months. He's deaf and dumb.

Just a minute, Sullivan, if there's
a reward, I'll lay claim to it here now.

I'm arresting him, ain't I?
I recognized him, didn't I?

Makes no difference, he's mine.
Ask anybody here.

Seems to be some argument
about the reward.

May I say it was my umbrella
that tripped him?

But this is no time to squabbling,
can't you see this man's badly hurt?

- He's gone!
- Well, that ends the reward business.

Now nobody gets it.

Come, children, we must go now.

This is not what I had in mind
when I brought you to see the fish.

Eddie Metcalf, you come back here.
Where do you think you're going?

- I want to see the monkeys!
- Well!

Well, monkeys are about the only things
you haven't seen here today.

You come right back here,
you've seen enough!

My... my hatpin, it's gone!

It's gone! Well, children,
why don't you do something?

Don't stand there like a lot of grown-ups.
Teacher's lost her hatpin!

Oh, it was a very valuable one!
My mother gave it to me years ago!

- It had a garnet in it.
- What's a garnet, teacher?

Don't quibble. Now everybody go right
back to where we started.

And look everywhere, on the floor,

in the fish tanks, in the fish,
look everywhere.

I'll give a prize to first one
who finds it, now run along.

A prize, what sort of prize, teacher?

Oh... well, no homework tomorrow.

A prize, no homework?
Such a prize, oy!

Philip!

Where have you been?
I've been waiting.

- What did you do with him?
- He'll be all right. Let's get out of here.

Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker,
this is a pleasure, Mrs. Parker.

- I don't believe I remember...
- I am Bertrand B. Hemingway,

the director here.

Of course I can't expect you
to remember all of your admirers.

I met you in your husband's office.

- Yes.
- Now you must let me show you my office.

I'm sure you'll find it most unusual.

- Really, I...
- No, I'll not take no for an answer.

- You must come too, Mr...
- Seymour.

Mr. Seymour. A friend of
your husband's, I presume?

Why, yes...

This way, if you please, Mr. Seymour.

Miss Withers!

Miss Withers, I found it!
I found it!

Miss Withers, where are you?

Here I am, children!

Oh, you're a good boy, Abraham!

No homework for you tomorrow.

Oh, I've done my homework already

- Two days ahead.
- Oh, that's too bad, Abraham.

We'll have to think of something
else for you.

Well, now we must hurry, children
before any more criminals come in.

Are we all here? Perhaps I'd better
count noses.

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight...

There's one nose missing.
Where's Isadore Marks?

Isadore! Isadore!

- Yes, teacher?
- Come along, Isadore, come!

Isadore... Do you mind me...

- Come along, Isadore!
- Teacher, that duck's acting so funny.

I told you again and again that is not
a duck, it's a penguin.

But look how it's hopping
up and then down.

Isadore Marks, you mind me,
you mind me...

- Isadore!
- Teacher!

This is a celebrated
Muraenesocidae anthropophagus.

- You think she is lonesome?
- I suppose so.

You're wrong. Only this morning
she killed her husband and ate him.

Bones, fins and all.

Nowadays the bold wife seeks
the divorce court...

or uses the revolver.

But not so the fine
Muraenesocidae anthropophagus.

Oh dear, no.

This little lady uses her teeth.

Hemingway, there's a man
in the penguin tank!

What's a man doing in the penguin tank?

Make him get out at once!

But... this man is dead!

Come on.

Never has a thing like
this happen before...

in all the years I've been
director here!

This is my tank!
Get these people out of here!

Come, come, come, get out, out!

Instead of ordering these people out, I'd lock
them in, I've already sent for the police.

One of them may be a murderer!

MacDonald! MacDonald, lock that door!

No you don't, no you don't!

By the way you're running anyone of you
might be guilty, stand back!

It's Gerald Parker, your husband.

Phil, Phil, what have we done?

It's all right, madam,
don't be frightened.

Costello's the name, Barry Costello.

I may be able to help you,
I'm a lawyer.

I'll be needing a man to
help me here.

There may be some life left
in this corpse yet.

Here, young man, come on,
come here.

Step back here, folks,
don't go crowding in there.

Inspector Piper. Some kid called up...

and said there was a dead man
in swimming with the ducks.

Over there, Inspector.

Well, Donovan, what do you
think you're doing?

Oh, hello, Inspector, I'm just trying
to bring him to according to rules.

- Drowned, huh?
- Surely.

The director here identified him
as a Mr. Gerald Parker.

Mr. Gerald Parker used
to be my broker.

He must have been drunk
and fell in the tank.

Got it all figured out, haven't you?

Bump in the back of the head.

Bruise in the chin.

Well, Director, this seems to me
like a plain case of homicide.

I realized that a half an hour ago,

that's why I had one of my pupils
call the police.

I'm surprised you thought
the police necessary.

Uh... yes.

Mr. Director, I'm going
to need your help.

I want everyone who was here
when it happened taken to your office.

Go ahead, Donovan, get their addresses.

Alright, come on, follow me, everybody.
Come on, this way!

Come on!

Come on, come on!

Madam, will you make
up your mind.

Did you or did you not see Seymour
hit the deceased?

I beg your pardon, Inspector. She answered
that question a few moments ago.

I did not.

What are you doing,
writing a letter home?

Hm? Oh, I'm taking down
the minutes of the meeting.

The mi...

Not a bad idea.

Alright, you can go.

Now listen, I still got a lot of questions
and somebody here's got the answers.

Who was the first one to see the body?

I was.
Go on, young man.

- Were you alone?
- I was with my class of pupils.

Where are those pupils? What do you mean
by letting them go home?

Letting them? I see you have no children
of your own, Inspector.

The moment you ordered everybody
to stay they er...

I believe the word is "scrammed".

You seem to have authority over
everyone except your pupils.

By the way, what's your full name?

Hildegarde Martha Withers.

- Occupation?
- Well really, Inspector!

What do you suppose I was doing
here with my class of pupils?

Entertaining the fish?
I'm a school teacher.

And I might have done wonders with you
if I'd caught you young enough.

- Acquainted with the deceased?
- Only by sight

I saw him for the first time
in the tank today.

- That'll do for you.
- Thank you.

- What's your name?
- Seymour. Philip Seymour.

Come on, what are you doing here?

Why, if you ever pull that out
on me again, I'll...

Come on, let's go down and see
the inspector.

Come on.

It's as clear as day what happened.

You're in love with Mrs. Parker.

And you murdered an unconscious,
defenseless man.

You can't bully me into
anything, Inspector.

I don't think I killed Parker
and if I did, it was an accident.

You killed him alright.

And if Mrs. Parker was mixed up
in it, we'll find that out too.

Looks like another Snyder-Gray
killing to me.

Come on, get on your feet!
Come on in there, come on!

Hey, what's this, Donovan?

I found this worm hiding behind
one of the tanks.

Why, that's the man I caught
with my umbrella, Chicago Lew.

Hiding behind the tanks, eh?

Well, you know something
and you're gonna spill it.

G.P. Gerald Parker.

The murdered man's watch.

Come on, where did you get
that watch? Speak up!

Can't you see the man's
a deaf-mute?

So you won't talk, huh?

Alright, get him out of here
and lock him up.

And sing him to sleep.

Oh, Mrs. Parker.

After Seymour knocked your husband down
and you left him, what did you do?

I... I just wandered around the exhibits
waiting for him.

But when Seymour reached
the front entrance...

he had to wait for you.

How long did it take you
to wander around?

About... about ten minutes.

And while Seymour waited there was
time for you to slip back...

where your husband was lying
unconscious and kill him.

I didn't! I didn't!

Look here, Mrs. Parker doesn't have
to answer these questions!

- No, who are you?
- I'm a lawyer.

I offered my services to Mrs. Parker
and I was retained just a little while ago.

A lawyer, eh? Well, it looks like
she's going to need you.

Mrs. Parker, we sent a woman to the electric
chair in New York a short while ago,

maybe you saw the pictures
in the papers.

Why yes, I...
Oh... oh!

Now, Mrs. Parker, I'm only trying
to find out the truth.

What do you think a woman should do
if she's tied to a man she hates?

A man who frightens her,
and abuses her.

She ought... she ought to get rid
of him, get away from him!

And you feared and hated
your husband, didn't you?

His death would mean freedom
for you, wouldn't it?

Wait a minute. You win, Piper.
There's no need to go any further.

I'll confess to the murder
of Gerald Parker.

I killed Parker.

There's no one else mixed up
in it but me.

I kinda thought you'd talk, Seymour.

Alright, let's have it.
How did you kill him?

Well, I carried his body up
onto the runway and uh...

And you thought how easy it would be
to push him off in the water...

while he was knocked out,
is that it?

That's it. I pushed him into the water
and held his head under.

There was a lot of bubbles
for a while and...

then they stopped coming
and I new he was dead.

- Yeah, but why...
- Just a moment, young man.

I don't believe he did.

I saw the body fall into the pool
and nobody was holding it under.

Besides, this young man doesn't
look like a murderer.

- Phooey, they never do.
- Just the same, I know bubbles...

when I see them and I didn't see any.

No, it's no use, Miss Withers...

I've taught school long enough, Inspector,

to know when someone is telling
the truth or not.

Mr. Seymour is shielding someone and...
I know who it is.

You got your confession, Inspector,
isn't that enough?

Alright, take him out of here, Casey.

Goodbye, Philip.

And that's that.

The quickest murder case I ever solved.

Now the rest of you can...

I'll take that, Hemingway.

Piper speaking.

What?

Say that again.

Alright.

Well, that confession isn't
as good as it sounds.

Philip Seymour killed Parker alright,
but not the way he told it.

Doc Blum, our medical examiner,
has found that Parker wasn't drowned.

There isn't a drop of water
in his lungs.

He was thoroughly dead
before he hit the water.

I told you so! Bubbles!

Alright, you can go, Mrs. Parker.

But don't try to leave town
or I'll have you dragged off the train.

Come, you need a rest.

Just a minute, Costello.

- Mr. Costello.
- Will you wait a moment, please?

What were you doing hanging
around this fishhouse?

Well, it's Friday, isn't it?

It isn't Friday for wisecracks.

- Come on, what were you doing here?
- Well, as it so happens, I like penguins.

- You like penguins?
- Yes. They're very comical.

It may sound silly but I come down here
quite often to watch them and get a laugh.

I've quite a valuable collection
of penguins at home.

You keep penguins in your own house?
You live alone, I take it.

I don't mean real ones, I mean these.

Have you ever noticed them? They're like
funny little old men in dinner jackets.

Slightly drunk. They're human
without being offensive.

You sound like a case for the psychopathic
ward rather than a nice, clean jail.

- What's your full name?
- Barry Costello, attorney at law.

- Acquainted with the deceased?
- Never saw him before in my life.

Acquainted with his wife, Mrs. Parker?

Not until I was lucky enough
to catch her when she fainted.

Well, alright, you can go, Costello.
But don't leave town.

And lay off the penguins, they're liable
to get you into trouble.

I'd never trust a man who is
a penguin fancier.

Well, I wouldn't want to live with one
if he kept bringing them home with him.

But I guess he's harmless.

He doesn't look like a murderer.

Phooey! They never do.

Did you notice Gwen Parker's
legs, Inspector?

- Who didn't?
- I mean her stocking.

- They both had stains on them.
- Stains?

Good, I'll look into that.

Say, Inspector, I'm a busy man
and you're taking up a lot of my time.

Well, I'm gonna take up a lot
more of your time, Director.

You may have authority over the fish but
you haven't any over the police department.

- Not when you're a murder suspect.
- A murder suspect?

MacDonald!

You were at the door when Parker came in.
Did you recall anything about him?

I did. He came in like he was angry
and looking for somebody.

He bumped into a man,
his hat was knocked off.

It was a derby hat,
I picked it up for him.

Get that, Miss Withers?
Parker wore a derby.

Got it.

- Anything else?
- No, sir, He went on into the building.

Alright, that's all.

Hemingway, there's a question
I didn't ask you.

Did you ever have a quarrel
with Gerald Parker?

Why, no, I...
No, we never quarreled.

I hadn't seen him or talked to him
in three months.

Hm... Inspector.
I think you should read this.

It's addressed to Mr. Hemingway
from Gerald Parker.

- That's my private correspondence, I...
- Just a minute, just a minute.

So he sold you out yesterday, eh?

What did you mean you hadn't seen
Parker in three months?

- I was afraid.
- Afraid of what?

- Of the consequences of what you did to him?
- No, I didn't kill him!

You can't trick me into confessing,
you can't!

- What are you afraid of then?
- I was afraid of losing my position.

If the board of trustees learned
that I was gambling in the market...

Well, you don't know our
board of trustees.

Didn't even know you had a board
of trustees in an aquarium.

What are they, fish?

Alright, I wanna have another look
behind those tanks.

- Shall I stick here, sir?
- Those were your orders, weren't they?

What's the matter, afraid
of ghosts or something?

I got a strange feeling there's somebody
here that don't belong here.

A kinda rustling and a whispering
and soft footsteps.

Oh, get a chair and sit down.

This must be your first job
in the homicide squad, isn't it?

Yeah... and I hope it's the last!

I'd give a lot to know where
that murder was committed.

Let's see. Seymour would have
stood about here,

and laid the body on the catwalk.

And the murderer, supposing
it wasn't Seymour,

would have come on Parker
from this direction.

He would have dragged Parker over...

held his head down here for as long
as he thought was possible,

and after...

Well...

I'm sorry, Miss Withers, but I love
this hat. I've worn it for five years.

Just a moment, young man.

Do you remember the hat that
was floating in this same pool...

when Donovan was trying
to revive the corpse?

- I didn't see any hat.
- I saw it.

A gray fedora.

What kind of a hat was it that MacDonald
said Parker wore when he came in?

A derby. Then the hat that was floating
in here was the murderer's hat.

And the murderer wore the dead
man's dry derby instead.

Well, I'm glad I always wear a derby.

- Do you always wear a derby?
- Winter and summer.

Every employee in the aquarium
can tell you that.

What if that hat is at the
bottom right now?

Not enough light.

There's a flashlight in the guard's
room, shall I get it?

Maybe that'll be a good idea.

Let's take a look at Chicago
Lew's hiding place.

Maybe you ought to wait here.

Not I!

My, what a creepy place.

If only you wouldn't insist
on being a detective.

Hemingway, what are you
doing down there?

Bring the flashlight up here.

Hemingway!

It looks to me as though the murderer came
back to get his hat out of the pool.

Come on.

Sullivan! Donovan!

Well, the man can't just disappear in
thin air, he must be somewhere!

Inspector!

I've looked everywhere for that
flashlight, Inspector, but it's gone.

Never mind that. Donovan, the officer, was
he here when you went after the flashlight?

Why... why no, but... But I never
thought anything about it.

When you hear a man put on duty
and ten minutes later he's disappeared...

you don't think anything about it.

You're a fool.

Well, he's alive anyway.

And you scolded him for thinking
he heard footsteps.

Line of duty! Call the guards,
Hemingway, will you?

Well?

I was just sitting there and something
hit me on the head.

It's a good thing it was your head.

Alright, MacDonald, take
care of him, will you?

Oh, Fink, take him to the police car.

Alright, Hemingway, you can go.

- Good night, Inspector.
- Good night.

Er, good night, Mr...

If that penguin could talk, I'll bet
he' tell us who did it.

And, uh... if he could laugh,
I' know whom he'd be laughing at.

You know, I can't quite make
you out, Miss Withers.

Hm, this is a busy day
for you, Inspector.

Now you have two mysteries to solve.

When I called up about those notes,

I never expected a layout like this.

Well, you may as well have
something on your stomach.

You have a hard day ahead.
Have a little more coffee?

No, thanks.

You do alright by yourself in the way
of victuals, don't you?

I suppose you thought school teachers
lived on chalk and old blotting paper.

Well, to be frank, I never gave it much
thought what school teachers did.

I must go into it further some day.

About those notes.

I suppose you got them all fried up
with cream gravy.

No, I typed them out for you instead.

Well, you've got everything
in here, haven't you?

Corpse, fish noises and everything.

You know, you oughtn't to be a school
teacher, Miss Withers, you ought to be a...

Detective?

Well, I wouldn't say a detective.

You see, it takes a certain type
to be a detective.

I've noticed that.

What I mean is that a woman detective
always looks like a woman detective.

What about a woman detective that
looks like a school teacher?

Oh, you've got all those kids
to teach about all those fish.

Well, I... I could get a substitute.

I'm sorry, Miss Withers, you've
been a big help.

See, these things have to be solved
in a certain way.

What do you mean solved?

Anyway, thanks for the notes and...
thanks for the waffles.

Thank you...

for nothing!

School teacher!

Hello?

Inspector Piper?
Just a moment!

Just... Inspector!

Inspector! Inspector!

Inspector Piper! Inspector Piper!

Headquarters on the phone!

Piper speaking.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah?

Okay, goodbye.

That was Doc Blum, our
medical examiner.

He knows now how Parker was killed.

Now all we've got to do is find
out who killed him.

What are you being so dramatic for?

Out with it, I won't faint.

While Gerald Parker was lying
unconscious on the runway,

he was killed by some sort
of devil skewer...

forced through the right eardrum
in the skull and into the brain.

Skewer you say, a stiletto?

Yes.

Doc Blum says the weapon
made a hole...

less than a sixteenth of an inch
through the skull.

What's the matter with you?
You're acting just like a detective.

- What are you looking at?
- I was looking at your hatpin.

My hatpin?

Why, I...

It could have been done with this.

Just what I was thinking.
You're a mind reader.

I'm a what reader?
I suppose this is exhibit A.

Inspector, you're acting more and more
like a detective every moment.

If you're harboring the delusion
that I did it,

you'd better snap the bracelets on me.

Will you shut up a moment, please,
I'm trying to think.

Sounds bad. Do you mind if I
sit down while you do it?

I suppose I'll turn out to be Gerald
Parker's deserted hometown sweetheart.

Nobody's accusing you, ma'am.

I suppose as a matter of form I ought
to see if this fits the hole in the skull.

Charming idea. You think
of everything, don't you?

Now I'm riled.

I started in this affair because
it was exciting.

Now that I'm in it I'm going to stay in it
until we find out who did kill him!

Listen, lady.

You're gonna stay in it whether
you want to or not.

Good morning, Miss.

Good morning, Miss!

When you get your disguise on
I'd like to ask you a few questions.

That is, if you can talk through
all that makeup.

Do you remember handling a call
yesterday afternoon...

to Mr. Parker about four, just before
he went out to... to be killed?

Say, what are you, a police woman?

Insofar as it concerns you, I am.

I'm connected with the Detective Bureau,
not very pleasantly but... still connected.

What are you trying to do,
put the B on me?

I'm trying to put nothing on you,
you have enough on already.

Now, if you'll answer my questions,
you can go right back to your artwork.

Sure I remember a call.
It was a man.

He said Mrs. Parker was in trouble.

- So I put him through.
- Are you sure it was a man's voice?

Well, it ain't likely a woman would
be calling me baby, is it?

No... not as far downtown as this.

Now, baby... I mean uh...

Get the chief operator to
trace that call.

Tell her to report to Inspector Piper
at Police Headquarters.

Oh...

Next time use a lighter shade.

That's a little vulgar.

Au revoir.

Okay, Lydia Pinkham.

I'm Miss Withers. I'd like to see
Inspector Piper, please.

- Oh, just take a chair.
- Thank you.

Oh, Mr. Costello, well!

What, no penguin?

I'm giving the penguins a day off.

Yesterday was quite a lot of excitement
for one little old man.

Well, yesterday was quite a lot of excitement
for one little old school teacher too.

I suppose the mastermind has everything
well in hand this morning.

Not so well in hand that he couldn't take
a few tips from you, Miss Withers.

Oh, you penguin fanciers,
you're such flatterers.

That's the secret of our success
with penguins.

Well, some good woman is losing
a very pleasant husband by it.

- Come in, Miss Withers.
- Thank you.

- See you later, Mr. Costello.
- I hope so, Miss Withers.

Oh, hello, Miss Withers,
what's on your chest?

None of your business.

Since I'm honored with being one
of two dozen murder suspects...

already lined up, I presume I have
the privilege of trying to clear myself.

People don't grant you privileges,
Miss Withers, you take them.

That's neither here nor there,
young man.

What I want to know is just how many
people know how Parker was killed?

With the hatpin, I mean,
through the right ear.

You and, I and the medical examiner.

And the murderer.

And the murderer.

I was going to give it to
the newspapers today.

Hm... well, uh...

Suppose you tell the newspapers the hatpin
was thrust through the left ear?

And then let the murderer betray himself.

Or herself.

Miss Withers, I think we've hit
on something there.

We've hit on something?

Next you'll be claiming you
did half the murder.

Good day, Inspector.
Oh...

If you want "us" to hit on
anything more, just let me know.

Oh, come on back, Miss Withers.

I think maybe we can get together
on something at that.

Costello was here just now.

He says if I give Gwen Parker a chance,
she'll turn State's evidence on Seymour.

That ought to be an interesting little
tidbit of news for Mr. Seymour.

Miss Withers, you took the very
words right out of my mouth.

Don't worry, you'll have plenty left.

And if I haven't, you've got a couple.
Okay, let's try it.

Oh, hello, Max, this is Miss Withers.

Max is the finest laboratory expert
any criminal bureau ever had.

- I've analysed Gwen Parker's stockings.
- Great.

Casey the cop got it from her maid.

What did you find, any traces of blood?

Nein, no blood.
Much more stranger.

A spot sticked with dried water.

Water tainted with fish slime.

The kind of water that might come
from an aquarium tank?

Only in an aquarium could you find
water like that.

I guess that busts Gwen Parker's story
that she didn't go behind the tanks.

- Maybe.
- Maybe nothing,

this case is ripe for grand jury.

No wonder Gwen was so willing to save
her skin by pinning it onto Seymour.

Alright, now let's go, Miss Withers.
Great work, Max.

Don't you see, Seymour, she's just
pinning the rap on you?

Just like Ruth Snyder tried
to do to Judd Gray.

She wants you to suffer while
she goes free.

Now come on. After you left Parker's body
on the runway where was Gwen?

Right where she's always been,
looking after Gwen.

This isn't the first time that beautiful
little devil's made a fool out of me.

Then will you help us, Seymour?
Will you help us pin the murder on her?

How can I help? I left Parker
unconscious on the runway.

I think Gwen went back to kill him
but I didn't see her.

- That's all I know.
- Oh, perhaps you're too hard on her.

Can't we take her any message
for you?

You can tell her for me that her name
should have been Susie.

District Attorney Roach makes arrest.

Condemning failure of Police
Department to act.

- Which is us?
- Which is me.

- What are you going to do about it?
- What can I do?

Gwen won't incriminate Seymour,
Seymour won't incriminate Gwen...

and the District Attorney will send
them both up the river, see?

I see. I see that old bull dog spirit
of yours is weakening.

- You're going to quit.
- I'm not going to quit.

- I'm gonna be ordered to quit.
- Well, nobody can order me to quit.

My business is giving orders.

If I can handle a classroom of children,
one district attorney ought to be easy.

Piper speaking.

A call came from a public station
in the aquarium, what call?

I thought you'd like to know what
brought Parker to the aquarium.

Huh? Oh... Thank you.

- Hemingway again.
- Might be anybody.

Gwen and Seymour both had motive and
opportunities, as well as Hemingway.

Do you really believe they're guilty?

Sure, what's the use in kidding
ourselves any longer?

And you're willing to send them to
the chair on the evidence you have?

Loving couples are not always reunited
in the last chapter, Miss Withers.

You've talked too much
Sir Walter Scott.

Well, If I've talked too much Sir Walter
Scott, you've read to many detective stories.

All you're after is a conviction,
anybody's conviction.

I never saw such a man.

Well, maybe if you'd seen more men,
Hildegarde Withers.

I've seen men enough today,
Oscar Piper,

to know that if this murder is to
be solved, a woman's got to do it.

Boy!

And she can cook too!

Glad you came.
This place looks spooky.

Well, spooks or no spooks, if we can save
Gwen, we're going to do it.

I'll never eat fish again
as long as I live.

- It's murder!
- Wait here!

- Where are you going?
- I'm going up there.

I'm going with you, young man.

What are you doing?

Get away, you meddling fool!

I'm trying to save a penguin's life.

There.

Well, after this pare of wings, old girl,

perhaps you'll not be so eager
to eat everything in sight.

The penguin was choking to death
on something that she had swallowed.

What was it she swallowed, let's see.

I take orders from the police, I don't
have to take anything from you!

It was a bit of cloth that had
fallen into the tank.

Then it's important. The penguin was
in the tank during the murder.

I have every reason to believe
that this is the band from the hat...

worn by the murderer of Gerald Parker.

- The hatband of the murderer?
- Just that.

I'm going to phone Inspector Piper.

Spring 73100, and hurry.

Hello? Hello, Inspector Piper?

This is Miss Withers.
Can you come to the aquarium at once?

I've found more evidence.

Evidence that ought to send Parker's
murderer to the electric chair.

What did I find?
I found...

- Yes, sir?
- Purchase a car. Four men!

Hang on, Hemingway! I gotcha.

Get a light, somebody!
Miss Withers, are you there?

I'm here, what's happened?

There are matches in my pockets,
Miss Withers.

Not necessary at all.

Why, I thought I had...

When that rat there kicked
against the light cord...

You know who kicked out the light cord
and you know that it wasn't I.

Well, as heaven is my witness,
it wasn't me.

The hatband, it's gone!

Inspector Piper! Inspector Piper!

What happened? You dropped the phone,
I heard you scream.

The penguin swallowed the hatband,
the murderer's hatband.

Mr. Hemingway got it by operating.
That's what I was trying to tell you...

when one of these three men
put the lights out and stole it.

Oh, they did, did they?

Now, will you all submit freely to a search
or do I have to persuade you?

- Start with me, Inspector.
- You bet your life I will.

Miss Withers, I'll have to ask you
to step outside for a moment.

Well, you don't think you're
going to search me!

I'm paying no favors, you're liable
to have that hatband yourself.

And suppose I swallowed it this time?

- I found it! I found it!
- What?

Give me that.
It's partly burned.

- Whose pipe is this?
- It's Mr. Hemingway's.

It's a plant, someone else put it there!

Oh they did, eh? Alright, Casey,
take him away and lock him up.

I tell you, it's a plant,
I had nothing to do with it!

Someone else put it there.

Good morning, Murphy.
They got nothing on Hemingway yet?

No, sir, they were at him all night but he
still swears that hatband was a plant.

Stubborn, eh? Little guys
are like that.

Mr. Costello's been calling.
Says it's important.

Good morning, Inspector.

Oh, it's you. Well, I'm busy
this morning, my friend.

Not too busy, I hope, Inspector.

I've just come from the Tombs.

I got a statement out of Chicago Lew.

You what?
Come inside here.

- How did you get in that cell?
- The district attorney gave me permission...

to interview the witnesses on
behalf of my client.

He did, eh? Well, what did you get
out of Chicago Lew?

This, in his own handwriting.

I know the man who killed Parker.

I will tell everything if I am let off.

It's my fourth offense and
that means life, Lew.

So it was a man that killed Parker, eh?

Well this looks like you might have found
a way out for Gwen Parker.

I'd do anything to save her, Inspector.

- I can't blame you for that.
- Thanks.

The next thing to do is to get
a complete statement out of Lew.

- Yes, sir?
- Call Miss Withers.

Tell her to meet me at the Tombs
right away.

I want to let her in on this,
she's worked hard.

Why let an outsider in on it?
She'd only delay us.

Not her, you don't know that gal.

Come on, let's go.

Here you are, Inspector, murderer's row.

Seymour and Chicago Lew
are the only tenants.

Chicago Lew's in the last one
on the left.

Look!

Schmaltz, come here, hurry up,
open the door.

Jack!

Alright, put him on the bed.

Well, Chicago Lew is dead.

Probably hung himself with this link
of copper wire.

And I thought Gwen's troubles
were over.

If I were you, Inspector,
I'd try and find out...

how that wire got in the
pickpocket's cell.

Schmaltz, have you searched every
visitor at this place?

I have.

How was it you forgot to search
Mr. Costello this morning?

- I did search him.
- Show us how.

He can go in now.

That search always shows up
weapons of sorts.

Certainly it does. But suppose he had 15
ft. of wire wound around his leg or waist?

Well, I guess he could go in, ma'am.
I didn't think about the wire.

Well, you'd better think next time.

Now I've got to contact every
hardware store in the city...

and try to identify the person
that bought this wire.

You needn't do that, Inspector.
I smuggled that wire in here.

You? Why

For the same reason I've done
everything else. To save Gwen Parker.

Yeah? How did you think the pickpocket's
suicide was going to help her?

I don't think the pickpocket
committed suicide.

I brought that wire in here because
Philip Seymour begged me to.

That's a lie, a dirty lie!

Shut up, you!

Now what is this?

The district attorney allowed me
to see Seymour several days ago.

He told me he wanted to end his life.

And I figured that his suicide would
be the same as a confession of guilt.

You smuggled a wire to Seymour...

and the man down the corridor in another
cell committed suicide with it.

Hm, really, Mr. Costello!

But I just told you I don't think
Chicago Lew was a suicide.

I think Seymour killed him because
he saw Seymour kill Parker.

He's lying, I tell you!
He's lying!

Schmaltz, take Seymour out of there
and search him.

Search every corner of the cell.

I wanna find out if there's any way
he could have gotten out.

It's a frame-up, it's a dirty frame-up!

I tell you, I don't know anything
about it.

He's lying, that's what he's doing,
he's just lying.

Suppose Seymour could get out.

He comes here to the pickpocket's cell...

And here he stops because
he can't get into Lew's cell.

Yes, I guess you're right at that.

Inspector. Look at that pipe.

Do you notice anything?

I don't understand how a wire
could make such a scar...

with just a man's weight
hanging on it.

I've got it. Now I know how it was done
and made to look like suicide.

Inspector, may I take
that wire, please?

Will you step inside, Inspector.
Excuse me.

Seymour never got inside this cell.

Somehow he persuaded the pickpocket
to step over to the door.

And then he throttled him by slipping
this wire around his neck.

Like this.

- Well, I'll be...
- Go on, young man, you're doing splendidly.

- Yeah, go ahead.
- Well,

Supposing this end of the wire is around
the dead man's neck there on the floor.

Here, you play the dead man.

Now hold on to it.

Now, he passes the other
end of the wire...

over the pipe.

And then, past the elbow...

over to where the scar is on the pipe.

Now, all Seymour has to do...

is make a loop around his hands...

And pull like the very devil...

and lift the little fellow up
into the air.

Then he just tied the wire right here.

- You've cut your hand.
- Yes, so I have.

The Inspector's no lightweight.

Your theory's alright, Costello,

but you haven't shown us yet
how Seymour got out of his cell.

We found it, Inspector. The key that
Seymour used to get out of his cell.

- Where did you find this?
- In Seymour's vest pocket.

Broken, eh?

Fits alright, but I can't get it
driven in to see if it works.

If Seymour can make a key as good as that,
he can make a better one if he wanted to.

I guess you're right at that.

The important thing is that I've got
a sure-fire defense for Gwen.

No jury in the world will
convict her now.

You've convinced me alright, Costello,
I've gotta hand it to you.

Thanks, Inspector. And now, if it's
all right with you, I'll run along.

- I want to tell Gwen.
- Go ahead, good luck to you.

Well, now what's eating you?

I see no reason for being
vulgar, Inspector.

I was wondering if you'd noticed
Seymour's hand.

What's so extraordinary about
Seymour's hands?

Nothing, that's just the point.

Costello cut his hands until they bled.

You think of everything, don't you?

Keep on and you'll think us
out of a conviction in this case.

Seymour's guilty or I'll turn
in my badge.

If you turned in a badge every time you
suspected the wrong person in this case...

the department would have to have
a special trophy room for them.

Never mind the badge situation,
I can take care of that.

Order in the court!

Mr. Hemingway,

these are the stockings worn
by Mrs. Gwen Parker...

on the day that her husband was
murdered. Perhaps you remember them.

I remember admiring the appearance
of Mrs. Parker's, um...

limb.

The prosecution claims that the fish stains
on these stockings prove the Mrs. Parker...

must have gone behind the tanks
in the aquarium.

Do you remember dropping
a fish bowl in your office...

when you first heard about
the murder?

Yes, I remember. The Muraenesocidae
had just eaten her husband for breakfast

And the water from that bowl might
have splashed on Mrs. Parker's stockings?

- Yes, I think so.
- That's all, Mr. Hemingway.

Miss Hildegarde Martha Withers.

Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth
so help you God?

I do.

Miss Withers.

Throughout your testimony you are
persistent in declaring Seymour innocent...

when all the evidence points
to the contrary.

Circumstantial evidence.

Now, please confine yourself
to answering the questions.

You have testified that you were
born in Dubuque, Iowa.

You're aware the murdered man
was also a native of that State,

practically a neighbor of yours?

Young man, we don't consider people across
the width of the State neighbors in Iowa.

Miss Withers, did you ever have
a love affair with Gerald Parker?

I did not, and I'll thank you...

On the night of September 1st, fifteen
years ago, didn't you meet Gerald Parker...

on the eve of his departure for an Eastern
college and begged him to marry you?

I did not, do you think...

Didn't you write letter after letter to Gerald
Parker begging him to come back to you?

I never saw him until I came on
him in the aquarium tank.

And isn't it true that you came to New York
in order to try and find Gerald Parker?

I refuse to answer. The questions
all have one answer, no!

I don't see where this is getting the
defense in cross-examination.

The witness is not on trial
for the murder of Gerald Parker.

Your Honor, I beg the court's
pardon for this delay.

But I assure the court I have
a definite plan in mind.

One that will contribute to the case
of my client, Mrs. Gwen Parker.

May I go on?

Proceed.

Miss Withers, you have identified
this hatpin as your own.

And admitted that you were wearing it
on the day of your murder.

I have.

You also told the court that
you sent your pupils...

on a hunt for this hatpin
there in the aquarium.

- That's what I did!
- But you lagged behind...

in the search, Miss Withers.

So that no one knows exactly where you
were during those twenty minutes or so.

And there's no one who can testify as to
just what you were doing at that time.

Yes, I did lag behind. I don't know
whether anybody saw me or not.

Are you willing to swear you didn't
have this hatpin tucked away...

in your dress or hidden
in your hand at the time?

I certainly did not.

You didn't notice the defendant
in this case, Mr. Seymour,

drag the unconscious body of the man
you had once loved and then hated...

behind the tanks and come out.

You didn't seize your opportunity...

to send your little charges
on a wild goose chase...

and then steal behind the tanks
with your deadly stud of a hatpin...

and drive it most cruelly and foully
into the right ear of the unconscious man.

Silence. Silence in the court.

Your Honor, I've finished
with the witness.

You may be finished with the
witness, Mr. Barry Costello,

but the witness has not
finished with you!

So. Mr. Gerald Parker was stabbed
in the right ear, was he?

Only four people knew that Mr. Parker
was stabbed in the right ear, young man.

The medical examiner, Dr. Blum is one,

Inspector Piper and I,

who gave the story to the
newspapers as the left ear,

are numbers two and three.

The fourth person who knew
is the murderer.

And there he sits branded
by his own tongue.

I'll be a zounds.

You! You killed him!

Silence, silence in the court.

Yes, he did it! He killed Gerald!
I see it now! He did it!

Mike Costello was my lover.

He needed money desperately.

He told me he'd have to leave the
country if he didn't money or credit...

before the end of the month.

I couldn't bear to see him go.

That's why I hunted up Phil Seymour
to get the money.

The day before the murder, Barry found out that
my husband carried a large life insurance.

He must have followed me to the
aquarium and when he saw Philip...

Order! Order in the court!

Order! Order in the court!

Order in the court!
Take him away!

Take him away.

Oh, don't... don't bother with me, man!
Go get Costello!

He's got, ma'am. He's hard and fast
behind the bars and he'll stay there.

Oh, good.

Thank you.

- How is she, Reilly?
- Fit as a fiddle, Inspector.

That's fine! Okay, Reilly,
you can go now.

- So you got him!
- Thanks to you, ma'am.

Oh, that's very handsome
of you, Inspector.

Oh, not at all.

What about the broken key
they found in Seymour's cell?

Costello's boasting about that. He planted it
there when Seymour was asleep in his bunk.

Oh, the same way he planted
the hatband in Hemingway's pipe.

Yeah, and he killed Chicago Lew
because the pickpocket saw him.

Evidently Chicago Lew had been
trying to blackmail him.

Funny how simple the answers are
when you know them.

Uh-huh. Well, they're gonna free Gwen
Parker and Seymour in a few minutes.

- You want to see them?
- I most certainly do.

You know I've taken a personal
interest in that young couple.

- Lucky for them you did.
- Yes.

- There's Seymour now.
- Look!

He's waiting for her.

Waiting at the old prison gate.

Leave it to you to get
a sob into it.

I'm not the emotional type, Mr. Piper,
but even you must get a little thrill...

out of the thought that we,
you and I,

helped those young people
to this happiness.

Atta boy!

That baby's had it coming to her
for a long time.

And I thought they'd forget and forgive.

What a pity.

- And such a nice-looking couple.
- Phooey!

What's good looks got to do
with romance?

Young man, have you ever looked
at yourself in the mirror?

Sure, have you?

I was in hope you wouldn't
bring that up.

Alright, so what?

I'm convinced that you and me
should incorporate.

Are you proposing that we start
a detective bureau?

No, I'm just proposing.
What are you doing?

- Well... I'm just accepting.
- Okay!

The licence bureau closes
in fifteen minutes.

Come on!