Original subtitles

Thank you, little lady. I'll be right back.

Now, here's a beauty.

I could give you a real good deal on it.

Oh, no, no, that's too rich for my blood.

Say, how much for this little beauty right here, huh?

It's a one-owner special, marked down to 225.

I don't have time for horse-trading, boy.

There's 100 bills right here, tax included.

Take it or leave it.

I'll take it.

- I'll get the papers for you. - Thank you, sonny.

Mister...

Don't say nothing. Don't even move.

Just stand right there and let me look at you.

Heh, huh, I didn't believe it was possible,

but you are even more prettier than your pictures.

Aw, Millie, I sure am glad to meet you. I'm Luke Tolliver.

I should have known from your letters how you'd talk.

Oh, I meant every word I wrote, too, ma'am, you'd better believe that.

- I believe you, Lucas. - Lucas?

Oh, now, doesn't that sound just a little stand-offish?

Why don't you call me Luke?

That's more simple, like the kind of man I am.

You know, just a simple man with a simple taste.

Oh, I'm such a boob.

Here, I've been thinking about your coming for weeks now,

and I let you stand in the doorway like a stranger.

Uh, heh...

You know, you sure do have to hand it to modern science,

bringing you and me together like this, huh, heh?

That little old computer clicked off our numbers just right, didn't it?

Course you're lonely, I suspect, and I'm lonely, and...

Well, we're going to hit it off.

Look, I have been here for years.

You ain't been around for more than a week

and I swear, you can think up more questions

to ask about this place than... Well, than I can find answers for.

Fifty-two dozen eggs, heh.

At 35 cents a dozen, seven days a week, minus feed...

Do you know that's most $100 a week just from eggs?

Hello?

Hmm.

Uh, like I said in my letter, uh, this fellow has the way of Satan,

and, uh, I ain't changed my mind.

Oh, you go right ahead, Hutch. Don't pay no attention to me.

I'll call you back.

You make these little old felts sort of like a hobby, do you?

I bet if you was to get hold of a regular distributor and work at them,

you might make important money.

Don't you ever think about anything else?

What's eating on you, Hutch? How come you don't like me?

I've been watching you this past week,

and I can see myself before I got the call.

I used to hunger after money, chase after women, drink.

That's how I got myself crippled up.

I climbed up on a rodeo bronc when I was full of liquor.

I don't drink, Hutch.

No, but you lust after women, and all you talk about is money.

Look, look, look. Uh, I just made this one.

Right from the book,

"The idols of the heathen are silver and gold."

But the book also says, "Money answereth all things."

That reminds me, Hutch,

how much do you figure this little old ranch is worth, huh?

Of course, it is a long way out of town,

but, um, subdivision is getting closer all the time.

What's it to you?

Are you planning on buying it?

Buying it? Heh. Not hardly.

Luke, you'd better get washed up. Dinner's ready.

Oh, I'm coming right along, Millie.

Here, Hutch, heh, I'll be seeing you.

- You talk too much. - I ain't been talking enough.

You ought to hear me when I get started.

You watch how you speak to me.

What are you going to do, fire me?

Coming, honey?

"Honey"? Heh.

Thank you very much, ma'am. I, uh, found just what I was looking for.

Ahh, ha, I do declare, Millie, if you ain't something special.

You cook almost as good as you look.

I bet you stay awake nights

just thinking up things to make me happy.

It pleases me if I please you,

because, well, I've been thinking, uh...

About you and me?

Well, ever since I've been spending these past few days here

on this nice little spread of yours... It's all you said it was in your letters.

Well, it isn't anything big or fancy,

but my husband did leave it to me free and clear.

I expect he left piles of insurance.

Well, uh, he did the best he could.

Well, you've got money and property

and you yourself, you're lots more than I ever counted on.

Why, thank you, Lucas.

- Oops. - Millie, I...

I don't want no secrets between us.

I don't want you thinking that I'm something that I ain't.

Well, what is it, Lucas?

Well, you don't know nothing about me at all.

Like for instance that I got trouble with my liver.

Well, you don't know all about me, either.

Uh, like, sometimes I get train-sick.

Oh!

Ha, well, then it's all right. It's all out in the open.

I'll just keep on taking my calomel and you stay off of them trains.

Now, what else were you going to tell me, Lucas?

Well, the truth is, Millie, that right now I'm down on my luck.

I don't have nothing to offer you at all

but a strong back and, uh, a loving heart

and, uh, a wish to work hard to make you happy.

Aren't those the important things, Lucas?

I mean, I have this place and a little money put away,

but it's no life for me, alone like this.

I ain't got nothing compared to you.

What difference does it make?

I know that if you were a rich man, everything you had would be mine.

Well, uh, if you aren't just about the most...

If I ain't the luckiest boy in the world.

Yes, sir, Mr. Mason, when my old buddy-buddy Clay told me

that you were just about the best lawyer in all Los Angeles,

I said to myself right flat-out, "That's the man for me."

Uh, nothing but the best, I always say.

You travel first-class, you save money in the long run, right?

- Clay is given to slight exaggeration. - Heh.

Whoo-eee, you don't have to tell me nothing about that old kid.

You know, him and me was in the war together.

Did you know that he was one of the nicest lyingest dogfaces

in the whole Pacific?

- But you still trust his judgment. - Indeed I do, sir.

Else why would I take the time to drive way over here from the next county

just to talk to you.

Mr. Mason, sir, I want you to draw me up a will.

Uh, pardon me. There's a message from Paul

on the Sacramento case and he'd like an answer.

I'm practically leaving now, ma'am.

Oh, Mr. Tolliver, Miss Street.

Happy to make you acquaintance, ma'am.

How do you do?

If you'll pardon me, Mr. Tolliver...

In the meantime you might give, uh, Miss Street

a list of your relatives and beneficiaries.

Oh, no, it ain't for me I want the will drawn up, sir,

it's for Millicent Barton Tolliver.

Is she meeting you here?

No, sir, she was all tied up, so I told her I'd attend to it for her.

Uh, you see, I'm leaving everything to her as my wife,

and she's leaving everything to me.

Heh, well, Mr. Tolliver, it will be necessary for her to sign the will

in the presence of witnesses.

Heh, yeah, we got to get a witness.

Well, I'll take care of that, if you'll just do up the will now.

Millicent Barton Tolliver, it'll be,

and I'll be back in touch with you just as soon as we get married.

Now, wait a minute.

I thought you said the will was for your wife?

She will be, any day now,

and you'll be amongst the first to know, sir.

I'm very happy to make your acquaintance, ma'am.

Thank you.

A will for his wife? Heh. Before they're married?

I think it's time, don't you, Millie?

Time for what, dear?

Well, I've been around here the best part of a week now,

and I ain't got a doubt in my mind, so...

So, I, uh...

It ain't much, it ain't nothing like you deserve,

but if you was to put that on,

you'd make me the proudest and happiest fella in the whole country.

Why I'd just, heh...

And then later on when I had a chance to take over this ranch...

Well, Lucas, I think it's just beautiful.

Hutch?

Uh, I've been watching them since I talked to you on the phone.

- What's going on? - Well, ah,

I don't know, Mrs. Munford,

but, uh, this Tolliver is a whole lot different

from what Millicent said he's supposed to be.

Honey drips from his mouth.

He don't talk money to her,

and you can bet he didn't talk to her about needing a good lawyer.

You sure about that?

That's what prompted me writing to you, ma'am.

I heard him call this guy in L.A.,

asked about a good lawyer, I hope I did right.

Would I have come here all the way from San Francisco if you haven't?

Whatever else she is, she's a client.

We can't have her taken in by this Tolliver.

You're a good woman, Mrs. Munford.

Like the book says, "To forgive is the best revenge."

I'm...

I'm also thinking of what's best for me in the long run.

I'm going to find out exactly what's behind all this,

and I think the place for that is my husband's office.

I'll keep my eyes wide open, ma'am.

You do that, Hutch.

Alice!

Why didn't you let me know

you were coming down from San Francisco, darling?

I didn't know it myself until I checked your reports this morning.

That's when I found our computer had made a mistake.

- That's impossible. - I agree.

I've run these cards through three times

and I've gotten the same answer three times.

Lucas Tolliver should never have been put in touch with Millicent Barton.

In fact, he should have gotten a form letter rejecting his application.

Why? What's wrong with him?

Tell me the truth, Guy.

Have you ever looked at this form he filled out?

Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I've been so darned busy.

The mail's been heavy and the women drive me nuts.

I'll bet they do.

Guy, it's our responsibility to watch out for our clients.

One or two more slips like this

and I'll be back selling cosmetics door-to-door

and you'll be handing out patent medicine

and ice cream sodas in that all-night drugstore.

I don't disagree with your conclusion that possibly we've made a mistake,

but don't you think to a certain extent we're borrowing trouble?

Are we?

Do you know that all our penniless client has talked about since he arrived

was how much the ranch is worth and how much income it brings?

Well, that's a normal concern.

Is it normal, too, for one of our prospective bride-grooms

to need a good attorney?

- Who told you that? - Hutch.

We're not letting it go any further. We've got to protect our position.

"Happy Future Association."

Then you brought Lucas Tolliver and Millicent Barton together?

My husband handled their case. I had nothing to do with it.

I was in San Francisco at the time.

Uh, what is it exactly that you want from me?

- My wife thought... - Uh, Mr. Mason, I happen to believe

that we run a legitimate and honest business,

fulfilling genuine and heartfelt needs,

bringing hundreds of lonely people into contact,

- filling otherwise empty lives. - I'm sure of that, Mrs. Munford.

We take a personal, individual interest in every client.

We're keenly interested in the outcome and in their future lives.

Well, it isn't necessary to sell me...

What my wife means is...

We got to greater lengths than any other agency.

We're even pioneered in the computerized data analysis.

So if, rarely, we make a mistake, you can see that...

Mistake?

I gather you're referring to...

Lucas Tolliver and Millicent Barton

should never have been brought together. We admit that.

If you're considering any legal action...

Legal action against the Happy Future Association?

You could cause us embarrassment,

jeopardize our future ability to help lonely people.

Dear, Mr. Mason hasn't suggested

that he's about to take legal action on Tolliver's behalf.

- Have you? - I haven't made any suggestions.

But you have been retained by Lucas Tolliver?

- In a sense. - What for?

That would be a violation of ethics to discuss that.

Mr. Mason, I hope you understand our concern.

We've been very fortunate in Happy Future.

But other agencies such as ours have had cases where they've had...

Well, tragic consequences.

And everything about Lucas Tolliver,

his attitude, his questions, his actions...

He doesn't measure up to the information he gave us.

Well, what do you want me to do?

Stop this marriage before it's too late, for their sakes and for ours.

If two adults in full possession of their faculties meet

and decide they're soul mates, computer or no computer,

whether or not they marry is their decision.

But consider the consequences.

If I learn of anything incriminating against either party,

I'll take all the action necessary to protect Millicent Barton

or my client, as the case may be.

Woo-hoo!

- Lucas! - Huh?

They're watching. Put me down.

Oh, well, let them watch. Let them watch.

I aim to carry my new bride right across that threshold.

Here we go. Here we go!

Ha, ha. Woo-hoo.

All right, scatter. You got work to do.

Well, all I know, Perry,

Luke Tolliver and I were mustered out of the Army together after the war.

Uh, that's World War II.

And when he walked in here I hadn't seen him in 20 years.

But why send him to me?

Because he said he wanted a lawyer to, uh, make out his future wife's will

and you're the first one that popped into my head.

A will for a future wife. That still sounds funny to me.

Sounds like the Luke Tolliver I knew. Never missed a trick. Great operator.

We had steaks and ice cream, all the other outfits were on K rations.

All because Luke was a genius at making what he called, uh,

"genuine" captured Japanese flags.

Heh-heh-heh, excuse me.

Well, it looks like your Mr. Tolliver isn't quite the rube

he'd like you to think he was.

Why did he want to create that impression?

Uh, is Mr. Mason there, please?

Come sit over here, honey.

Well, come on, come on, sit down.

Oh, hello there. Is that you, Mr. Mason, sir?

Miss Della done told me I might catch you over at Clay's.

Mr. Tolliver, we were just talking about you.

- You're married? - Heh, huh.

Surprised about that, huh, heh?

You know, I've been so busy courting,

uh, I haven't had a chance to get back to you.

There was a little old favor I wanted to ask you, Mr. Mason,

just so that everything's hunky-dory before we go on our honeymoon.

I was wondering if you'd had a chance to do Millie's will?

Yes, Mr. Tolliver, we have it ready.

But I expect some straight answers when I see you.

Ooh, why not tomorrow night?

Millie and me, we're gonna have a real old-fashioned

Oklahoma wing-ding down here on her ranch.

And you and me, we could hoist a few and then chew the fat.

Our ranch, Lucas. We're married, remember?

Heh, as if I could ever forget. Well, what do you say?

We'd sure like to have you folks come down.

There's going to be a whole passel of Millie's friends.

Oh, Clay's coming over here too. I just asked him.

We're gonna have a ball, heh! What do you say?

I don't know, Mr. Tolliver.

We won't promise, but we'll do our best.

I sent you the will earlier today, special delivery.

Congratulations, Mr. Tolliver.

Married?

Paul, do you have a contact,

- a good contact, in Tulsa? - The best.

Would you call him?

I think we've reached a point where we need to know

a little more about Lucas W. Tolliver.

Swing your partner round and round.

Lift her gently off the ground.

Everybody, promenade his belle.

Now do that stretch you know so well.

Promenade around that ring.

Now grab your honey and let's all swing.

That's the way, that's the way.

Pass to the middle with that pretty little thing.

Ladies, curtsey. Gents, all bow.

Let's take a rest right now.

Woo-ee!

I'm all steamed up, I tell you. Oh, thank you, Hutch, thank you.

Oh, no, you'd better not drink anything so cold while you're still warm.

Oh, well, don't give it any mind. I'll get us another.

Hutch, did you ever see such a considerate little wife?

Clean it up, Hutch.

Heh, I'd sure like that little old dipper when you get through.

Why, you just help yourself, Pop.

- What did you call me? - Pop.

You are my father, you know. That is, my stepfather.

Heh, come on down here a minute, would you?

Excuse us, folks, heh.

- Who are you, anyway? - Larry Dunlap's my name.

Cora was my mother.

Oh, if Cora had a son, she'd have told me.

You didn't give her much of a chance, did you?

- What are you doing here? - I'm here to get what's coming to me.

You took Ma's estate, everything.

Why, you even took her jewelry. Now that's gone too.

Cora's will was probated, all legal and proper-like.

If she had a son, Cora cut you out of the will, not me.

Well, sir, I'm cutting myself back in, right now.

Because I know what you're up to. I know how you operate.

Listen, sonny.

I feel like having myself another dance and when I get through,

you'd better be 10 miles away from here.

Because as far as I'm concerned, Cora Dunlap's son just doesn't exist.

I just got a report from Tulsa.

There's a lot of oil there, and guess who owns a healthy share of it?

Lucas W. Tolliver.

So he wasn't a poor boy.

He was married once before to a Cora Dunlap.

Six months after their marriage, Cora died from eating wild greens.

Her death was ruled accidental.

And right after she died,

Lucas just happened to find oil on the farm she left him.

There are ten rigs pumping it right now.

Here's a full report.

Della, wasn't the Tolliver party supposed to have been tonight?

But you said you didn't want to go.

Well, I've changed my mind.

Where's your husband?

He's in the barn, making a phone call.

What have you done to me?

What have you both done to me?

Guy, I know.

I know about Lucas.

And you've known all along.

I'm married to a murderer and I've got to get out of it right now.

- Wait a minute, now... - "He's just right for you," you said.

"Nothing wrong with him but liver trouble."

- Perfect match, you said. - Millicent, please, listen.

- We can work this thing out. Ah... - Oh, no. I'm through.

- Finished. Right now. - Millicent, please, listen...

Millie, honey, where you all been?

Come on, let's show these folks how to dance.

- Oh, no! - Millie, come on, let's dance.

Let go of me.

Millie, everybody's watching.

- It's a great party, Millicent. - Thank you.

Here you are, honey. That ought to make you feel better.

I expect that dance was too much of a storm.

All right, let's get the party rolling, now. Come on.

I don't feel so well.

Lucas!

Millie!

- Millie! - Somebody get a doctor.

Clay, what's happened here?

Millie got overheated from dancing, I think

and she had something to drink and then she got awfully sick and fainted.

Oh, no.

- What did she have to drink? - Just lemonade that Lucas gave her.

Perry, I think she's dying.

You ain't running out on me, Mr. Mason?

Not now when they got me charged with a murder I never done.

You need a lawyer, certainly,

but as I told Clay when he asked me to see you, I'm not that lawyer.

Now, why not?

That jalopy of yours,

the hick movie clothes, even cornpone accent, is phony.

I can't defend a man I can't trust and who apparently doesn't trust me.

All right, Mr. Mason.

I have been playing a part but I had my reasons, good reasons.

- And they were honest. - Honest?

Posing as a simpleton and a poor man?

Well, I'm not rich. Not real rich, anyway.

Not yet.

Well, how did I know that some woman wouldn't wanna marry me

just for my money and not for love?

Did you tell Millicent that you'd been married before?

Oh, you found out about Cora.

Well, the circumstances were... I didn't want to upset Millicent.

You didn't tell Millicent that you had a stepson.

I never knew that. She never told me.

You show up here posing as a poor man.

You insist I draw up a will immediately.

You marry a wealthy widow.

The ink is hardly dry on that will,

when she dies of mercuric chloride poisoning.

Dies after drinking a glass of lemonade you gave her at your wedding party.

I know. I know.

You also know that you stand to inherit everything she had,

a ranch worth perhaps $200,000.

I didn't kill her, Mr. Mason, I didn't know Millicent very long,

but, well, I grew very fond of her.

I didn't kill her, and that's the truth.

Look, I'm in the worst spot I've ever been in, in my life.

I need a good lawyer. I need him bad. You know that.

Now, please, don't let me down.

Don't let you down?

All right, Lucas, just one thing.

Don't let me down.

This simple country boy is in reality an actor of consummate skills.

Now, he came here playing the part of a kindly, generous soul,

whose only interest, he says,

was to find a woman who would love him for himself alone.

But he had one other requirement in a prospective bride: money, property.

Now, we shall prove that Millicent Barton Tolliver's quick death

was not the first to leave our actor a widower.

Her murder followed an established pattern.

Her killer had struck before.

Well, they finished dancing and they came off the dance floor.

- It was a warm night... - Mr. Clay,

what did the decedent and the defendant do then?

- Then she had the lemonade. - Oh, I see.

She went to the bar, and she ordered a lemonade,

not a beer or liquor or a soft drink, but lemonade.

- Well, no... - A tray was passed with lemonade,

- and he selected a glass? - Uh, no...

- She called a waiter for it. - It wasn't...

Well, Mr. Clay, where did she get this poisoned lemonade, the fatal potion?

He handed it to her.

Who, Mr. Clay? Point him out to us.

The defendant. She was thirsty, I guess...

No further questions.

Uh, Mr. Clay, you testified you saw the defendant

- hand lemonade to the victim. - Yes, sir.

Where did he get it?

Did he go to the bar and ask for lemonade?

Not beer nor liquor nor a soft drink, but lemonade?

No, sir.

A tray was passed with lemonade and he selected a glass?

No, sir.

- He called the waiter and asked for it? - No, sir.

Then, Mr. Clay, where did he get it?

Where did he get this poisoned lemonade, this fatal potion?

Well, he went over and picked it up and he handed it to her.

Picked it up? Where?

It was on the bench right next to the record player.

And this was immediately

after they'd finished dancing? - Yes, sir.

So that while they were dancing, someone else

could have filled the glass or replaced it or added something to it?

Yes, sir, they certainly could have, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Clay, that's all.

Uh, just a moment, Mr. Clay.

You say you didn't actually see who filled the glass.

That's right, sir.

It could have been anyone at the party, including the defendant?

Yes, sir.

But you did see who gave her the lemonade and it was the defendant?

Yes, sir.

It couldn't have been anyone else but the defendant?

No, sir.

No further questions.

Yes, when the defendant contacted Happy Future about six months ago,

he wrote that he was a lonely widower in search of an attractive wife.

Attractive.

Did he stipulate any other qualifications?

Yes, he said she had to be at least well-to-do.

And so the computer ground out Millicent Barton.

And then the defendant arrived in the community,

and they were married shortly thereafter.

Tell me, when did you first begin to suspect

that things were not altogether right with that marriage?

Objection, Your Honor.

Mr. Snell is leading the witness. - Sustained.

I'll approach it another way.

Now, you testified earlier that, uh, your wife arrived unexpectedly

from your San Francisco office.

Now, what brought her here?

She had discovered something alarming

about the Barton-Tolliver match.

And what was that?

Their punch cards were not compatible.

If there is another outburst of this nature, I'll clear the court.

A man's life is at stake here.

What did you do when she made this discovery?

My wife and I voiced our concern to Mr. Tolliver's lawyer

and asked him if there was information he could give us on Tolliver.

And who was Mr. Tolliver's attorney at that time?

Mr. Perry Mason.

- And what did he tell you? - Objection.

He said that if Mrs. Tolliver were in any danger,

he would take steps to protect her.

Your Honor, objected to as irrelevant. - Sustained.

Strike the question and the response.

Mr. Munford, if the punch cards were not compatible,

why did you bring Millicent Barton and Lucas Tolliver together?

Machine error, Mr. Mason.

My wife didn't discover it until after Mr. Tolliver arrived here.

Still, you took no action.

Instead you stood by while she signed a will at the behest of the defendant,

a will leaving everything she had to him.

Isn't that correct?

Oh, I didn't know anything about the will until Millicent told me,

the night of the party.

Did you advise Millicent Barton of your mistake?

No. MASON: Why not?

Well, our detailed investigation of Mr. Tolliver's background

didn't show anything wrong.

Did not your detailed investigation show that Mr. Tolliver,

far from being a poor man, was a moderately wealthy one?

Objection.

No further questions.

Now, while you were overseas serving your country,

your mother met and married Lucas W. Tolliver?

Yes, sir, that's right, sir.

Then I got a letter said Ma was dead, poisoned from eating wild greens.

Objection.

The testimony is immaterial and irrelevant.

Your Honor, I intend to show by this testimony and other evidence

that the defendant's behavior in this case is part of a pattern

indicating premeditation.

Your Honor, the district attorney's intentions are clear.

But that does not excuse his attempt without proper foundation

to lead a witness to produce gossip, hearsay, opinion,

- and personal prejudice. - Sustained.

- Strike the question and response. - I'm sorry, Your Honor.

Now, Mr. Dunlap, do you know of your own knowledge

that Millicent Barton Tolliver

knew of the fate of her predecessor, your mother?

Oh, yes, I told her. - When?

At the party, the night she was killed.

And what was her reaction?

She went all to pieces.

She looked scared to death. - Your witness.

Now, then, Mr. Dunlap, you testified that the defendant, not you,

inherited your mother's entire estate.

He talked her into it. I blame him. - You do?

You don't blame the fact that your mother told friends

that she had disowned you after you were convicted on a charge

of felonious breaking and entering?

And wasn't that sentence then suspended

when you agreed to enlist in the Armed Forces,

from which you have just been separated for the good of the service?

Objection.

The witness's past is not an issue here.

The validity of his testimony is. - Overruled.

That's got nothing to do with it.

There's still what he done to my ma and to me.

What did he do to you?

He turned my own ma against me

so he could make off with everything she had.

Now, then, Sergeant Woodward,

was your investigation of the defendant confined to Tulsa, Oklahoma?

No, sir. I also investigated a report from Springfield, Missouri.

Would you tell the court the results of that investigation?

Yes, sir.

I learned that two years before moving to Tulsa,

the defendant met and married his first wife in Springfield.

She was Agnes Frost, aged 26, parents deceased.

She was killed in an automobile accident.

And what were the circumstances surrounding this accident?

Mr. Tolliver stated at the inquest

that he was driving his wife to see a doctor.

The car apparently stalled on a railroad track as a train approached.

Mr. Tolliver testified that he was not able to get his wife out of the car.

The autopsy revealed she was under heavy sedation at the time.

- What was the inquest verdict? - That death was accidental.

Can you tell us to what extent if any

the defendant profited from this accident?

He collected $10,000 from a life-insurance policy on his wife.

He also inherited from his wife a house and 50 acre farm

which he sold for $60,000 before moving to Tulsa.

Thank you, sergeant.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

I'm beginning to wonder if you're capable of speaking the truth.

You lied to your wife.

You lied to me and you're lying to yourself.

We've been trying to investigate everyone you've been in contact with

since you came here,

but perhaps we should have spent our time investigating you.

I know what you must think.

Can you honestly say you've told the truth to one person

since you've been here?

Well, I told the truth to you.

Sometimes I told the truth to Millie.

You told her about your money and your former wives?

No.

I did tell her about my liver, though. Oh, I've had it a long time.

It gets all jumpy and uneasy when I'm upset.

Like now. Calomel.

It's an old home remedy, you know.

Ah. Heh.

Doc laughs at me when I take it,

but it's the only thing that seems to give me real relief.

You told Millie you were taking calomel?

I wanted to be honest.

Look, Mr. Mason, please, please don't give up on me now.

The only reason I didn't tell you about Agnes was...

Well, you almost quit on me when you found out I had one other wife.

I figured if you knew there'd been two, I'd have lost you for sure.

Lucas, are there any more wives?

- You know, if another one appears... - There are no more.

That's the truth.

He wanted to know what the ranch was worth,

uh, the income from the cattle, uh, the truck garden,

- uh, the poultry and... - I see.

Well, then, would you say his interest in the ranch was entirely mercenary?

Objection!

The question is leading and suggestive

and like much of the district attorney's examination,

- borders on prejudicial misconduct. - That, sir, is your opinion.

That is also my opinion, Mr. Snell. Objection sustained.

I apologize, Your Honor.

No further questions.

Now, Mr. Hutchinson, this hobby of yours,

the financial prospects of which seemed to interest Mr. Tolliver,

would you tell us about it?

Well, heh, it's nothing much.

It's an old process for making fine felt.

Uh, they taught it to me when I was in the hospital.

You've already testified to that effect.

I'm interested in the chemical solution you said you used in the process.

- What is the solution? - Bi...

Bichloride of mercury.

Bichloride of mercury.

That's the lay term for mercuric chloride, doctor?

Yes. It's also known as corrosive sublimate.

A deadly poison, whatever you call it.

But aren't there some beneficial mercury compounds?

Oh, yes. Mercurochrome, certain oxides.

Even home remedies?

You must be thinking of calomel?

Yes, calomel actually is mercurous chloride.

Then isn't it very similar to the poison, mercuric chloride?

Uh, it contains the same basic elements, yes.

But bichloride is deadly, whereas calomel is a harmless home remedy.

Normally, yes, but under certain conditions,

mercurous chloride, calomel, may be changed into mercuric chloride

and become poisonous.

Under what conditions, doctor?

Oh, prolonged storage, particularly in a damp place.

Or in acid solution.

A solution such as citric acid? Orange juice or, uh, lemonade?

Well, yes.

Mrs. Munford, what prompted you to come down from San Francisco?

- My husband explained all that. - I'm asking you, Mrs. Munford.

Well, Roy Hutchinson wrote to me.

Why should he write to you?

He was working for Millicent Barton, wasn't he?

No, he worked for me and my husband.

On Millicent Barton's ranch?

It wasn't her ranch. She rented it.

Oh, I'm sure you're mistaken, Mrs. Munford.

I am not.

Guy inherited that ranch several years ago.

With him in Los Angeles and me in San Francisco, we rented it.

Mrs. Munford, I have here a photocopy of a transaction handled

by Valex Realties six months ago.

For $1 and other valuable consideration,

transferring to Millicent E. Barton all title and interest to a ranch known as...

I can't believe it.

You mean you were completely unaware

that your husband had disposed of the property?

I had no idea.

I'd like a chance to explain about the ranch.

- You see... - We'll return to that.

But first you might be able to enlighten us on another important subject.

Lucas Tolliver's liver.

- What? - There's the bait. Watch Snell.

Lucas Tolliver's liver trouble.

You, uh, were aware of it, were you not?

Mr. Tolliver noted it on his application to your, uh, Happy Future service.

Now, surely you read those applications.

Your Honor,

if Mr. Mason is deliberately attempting to confuse this court,

well, then, at least as far as I'm concerned, he's succeeded.

He took it.

Where's he going? What's his explanation?

Now, we've been treated to courses in felt-making,

real estate transfers and chemistry,

but I draw the line at the discussion of the defendant's internal complaints.

Your Honor, the question of my client's liver trouble is quite germane.

I'll admit the confusion has seemed monumental,

but when we accept one simple, integral fact, it all becomes quite clear.

The defendant, Lucas Tolliver, was not the murderer.

He was, in fact, the intended murder victim.

Now consider, as the prosecution pointed out, Your Honor,

the defendant came here posing as a poor man,

hiding his other two marriages in order to win a loving wife.

That is what he claimed, and, strangely enough, that was the truth.

Far from being a fortune hunter,

his fortune was being hunted by Millicent Barton.

Your Honor, is this Mr. Mason's idea of cross-examination?

- It sounds more like a lecture. - You asked for an explanation.

I'm giving it to you.

Mr. Snell, I'm going to allow it.

- You may continue, Mr. Mason. - Yes, Your Honor.

Now, Mr. Munford,

think back to the night of the party.

After talking to Mr. Tolliver's stepson, Millicent Barton Tolliver spoke to you.

What was the substance of that conversation?

She was terribly upset.

Larry Dunlap had told her that Lucas had poisoned his mother.

And she believed that she was married to a wife-murderer.

What else was said?

I told her I was shocked as she was. Uh...

You were shocked?

Yes, you see, Happy Future had brought them together...

But you already knew all about Lucas.

If necessary, we can subpoena the records of your detailed investigation

of Lucas Tolliver before he was put in contact with Millicent Barton.

Therefore, you had to know.

But when my wife and I came to see you

it was because we were terribly concerned.

Your wife was concerned for the reputation of your company.

But that wasn't exactly what was bothering you.

- No, I was concerned for... - Concerned for Millicent?

Or that your plan for fleecing Mr. Tolliver might fail?

You were concerned the night of the party, weren't you?

Didn't Millicent say she was frightened and wanted out of the marriage?

She may have.

That would have destroyed the plans you and Millicent had carefully made,

finding the right man, transferring the property

so she could appear wealthy.

At first you only intended to fleece Lucas Tolliver.

But now you had to kill him.

Millicent and I loved each other.

Why would I kill her?

You didn't intend to kill her.

You intended to kill Lucas Tolliver

by giving him a fatal dose of bichloride of mercury,

so it would appear the liver medicine,

the calomel already in his system, had been changed by lemonade

into poisonous mercuric chloride.

What were your thoughts, Mr. Munford?

What were your thoughts when Lucas picked up the fatal potion

and instead of drinking it himself, handed it to the woman you loved?

I didn't mean to kill Millie. I didn't mean to.

I didn't mean to.

Buddy-buddy, you really did me a good turn

when you put me on to Mr. Mason here.

Well, then, do me a good turn. Put me on to one of those oil strikes of yours.

Ha, I'll do that. I'll sure do that.

I'm going to clue you in, too, Miss Della.

Oh, well, I have about $35 to invest.

She's a real plunger.

Honey, anybody looks as pretty as you do, doesn't need any money.

All you've got to do is find yourself a rich husband.

Before you introduce Della to a friendly computer,

we have one more legal transaction, Lucas.

Ah, the ranch. You have the papers, Mr. Mason?

Just as you wanted.

You've given up all claim to the property to Mrs. Munford.

Well, that's only fair.

Well, there goes $200,000.

You know, I've never known a woman yet

who could handle money by herself.

A woman needs a man around,

somebody to do things for her, someone to...

Ha, you know, I've been thinking lately,

before I get head back home, maybe I ought to just stop off at that ranch

and see if I couldn't bring a little comfort to poor Miss Munford.

Poor lady's been awful broken up lately.