Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: "Gunsmoke," with Milburn Stone as Doc, Amanda

Blake as Kitty, Ken Curtis as Festus,

Buck Taylor as Newly, and starring

James Arness as Matt Dillon.

CLYDE: You cheated me!

Nobody's gonna slip card me.

WOMAN: Now, Clyde, you stay there.

CLYDE: Get your hands off me, you old sow.

I'm gonna leave here when I get my $4 back from that thieving

dealer over there!

MAN: How do you wanna leave here, friend?

Walking on your feet or crawling on your belly?

WOMAN: Don't even ask. Just throw him out.

Get outta here!

Hold it, hold it! What's the problem here?

Why you!

Simmer down!

Ah, he was nickel and diming the gaming tables.

Eating his weight in free lunch.

I was cheated!

That skinny dealer in there cheated me.

She gave him the eye to bottom deal

me just as my luck was running!

You're the one that had the argument with the storekeeper

yesterday.

I told you then to stay out of town.

I just come in to put a dollar on my luck.

And I ain't gonna get outta nowhere till that sorry excuse

for a female coughs up my $4!

You ain't gonna--

Simmer down!

Stinking, crooked town won't do right by you, Jake.

Now, let's get.

I want you and your kid out of this town.

I'm gonna get my money or a piece of your hide

no matter how long it takes, honey.

One more word out of you, and you're

gonna spend the rest of the summer on the county road gang.

Now, get.

Now!

Come on, Jake.

Now, Jake, there ain't no sense in doing

road all summer at $0.10 a day.

Took me a whole week to earn that $4.

A whole week.

You oughta be getting some sleep, Jake.

It'll be light soon.

You still figuring on going down to Attatown

to see if they need any cotton hands?

Law, it don't care about right or wrong, just get.

Maybe we can wait at the crossroads and maybe hitch

a ride on a freight wagon south.

You get somebody to eat in town, boy?

Yeah, stole me an apple when the store

fella had himself busy.

There's some meat in my coat.

Picked it up at the free lunch.

Where is my coat?

Hey, I don't remember you wearing it when they

threw you out of the saloon.

I took it off just before I sit down at that card table.

Well, we'll be fair warm heading south.

I left it hanging back there on a hook.

Hey, wait a minute, Jake.

That damn coat ain't worth it.

If that sheriff sees you coming back into town--

It's bad enough they stole my money.

Now they got my coat too.

There's meat in the pocket.

I'll be back before light.

Jake!

Anybody awake in there?

Anybody awake?

[glass shatters]

You all right?

[screaming]

Who was that screaming?

Jareth.

Jareth, he's dead.

I didn't do it.

Doc.

You're up kind of early, ain't you?

You know, I'm up late, if you wanna know the truth.

You know, someday I'm gonna figure out

why babies always decide to get born just

as I'm getting ready for bed.

Where you heading for?

I gotta go to Kingville.

I got a wire from the Sheriff up there.

There's been a murder, and people are getting

all stirred up, I guess.

Do you think you'll be gone long?

Not long.

Come on, Matthew.

Take care of yourself now, you hear me?

Doc, you remember them pills you went and sold me

to ease the twinges in my knee?

Sold 'em?

I gave 'em to you, a 30 day supply.

Well, anyhow, Doc, I need me some more of them.

Only supposed to take one after each meal.

What's the matter with you?

Well, that's exactly what I done, Doc.

One after eating, but they went awful fast, don't you see?

No, I don't see.

Why, it was like yesterday, with Burke having coffee

and cinnamon rolls with him, and then some breakfast, eggs,

and bacon, and biscuit, and gravy with old Sam,

and then Ma Smalley, just when I was fixing

to eat my regular dinner, she went to work and baked

some green apple pies.

Wait a minute!

You mean to tell me that you took one of those pills

every time you opened your mouth and shoveled food in there?

That'd be about 28 times a day!

Well, how are the twinges?

Well, they eased up something in my knee,

Doc, but now I got these here twitches in my head, just--

Oh, well, there's nothing to worry about there.

That just means that you're non compos mentis.

Oh.

What that means is that you've got a positive, ironclad

guarantee, Festus, that you will never

die of overexercising your cerebral processes, you see?

Oh, that's good.

Sheriff, my father said he'd be back by first light.

He's locked up.

What for?

He's charged with murder.

You can go in and see him.

Go ahead.

Can hear them buzzards clear in here.

Yeah, well, you can have five minutes with your boy.

What happened, Jake?

My luck run out.

I was getting my coat.

Seen Cate moving around the office, stumbling

like she's drunk or something.

She fell.

Hit her head, I guess. I don't know.

It was a lot of blood.

I never touched her.

That safe was open.

There was all that money, and I took it.

And they caught you with it.

Just wanted to get my coat.

Kid, you know where Elbow Creek is?

Sure, it's where Jake and me spend the day cleaning livery.

Look, Sheriff, Jake never killed nobody.

That's up to the circuit judge to decide.

You talking about that old drunk that gave

me 10 days up in Quartz Town?

Judge Warfield is due at Elbow Creek today

to officially open some homestead land.

And I want you to tell him we need him here at Kingville

before some of these hot heads take over.

And tell Sims at the livery I said to lend you a horse.

Now, go ahead.

Hey.

What's that mob out there so het up for anyway?

Found out I sent a wire to the nearest

US marshal, Matt Dillon at Dodge City.

What do you need him for?

I'm guessing the judge is gonna order your trial

set for another town.

Why?

Because there's no way that you're

gonna get 12 men around here who haven't already

made up their minds that you deserve a rope, and that

includes me.

So I want a federal badge to take you out of here.

Might make some of these people think

twice if they decide they don't want

you to reach that other town.

You tell Sheriff Ritter I concur.

A change of venue is indicated.

Look, I think the Sheriff meant there wouldn't be

no trouble if you were in town.

He's openly apprehensive there.

In any event, I will not be able to arrive

in Kingville before morning.

But you've got to ride in now.

I've been telling you that for the last hour!

And I'm tired of hearing it.

I told you, there are several legal matters that

must be settled here first.

Like sobering up?

Well, couldn't you just dunk your head in the water trough?

Respect for your elders has not been part of your rearing

I see.

Come on, Judge.

The town was getting awful riled up when I left.

And I'm getting mighty riled up now.

Look, everybody knows Mr. King doesn't want you in his town

drunk.

Well, if you're so afraid he's gonna see you,

why don't you just have some coffee and dunk your head?

I'm beginning to remember that loudmouth father

of yours striking my bailiff in Quartz Town.

I see you have inherited some of his manners.

Look, Judge, Jake is always arguing with people,

but he wouldn't hit no woman.

I mean, he's yelling all the time,

but it doesn't mean anything!

Cate had many friends throughout the county.

You tell Sheriff Ritter that I think the trial should be held

well out of the county itself.

I'll see that papers are forwarded to any town

that he or Marshal Dillon selects.

But there shouldn't be no trial!

Jake couldn't kill nobody, much less a woman!

I don't share your confidence.

I'll be persuaded when-- you young whelp!

I'll teach you--

You couldn't teach me nothing, you drunken sod!

You whelp!

Come back here, you brat!

I'll--

Marshal, thanks for coming in.

Things quiet down in Kingville.

Some people tell me to-- to get out of town for a while.

What does that mean?

They said they had a citizens' court to try

to Jake Fielder, the boy's pa.

All right.

Get Warfield sobered up and get him back into town.

I'll get in there and stop that citizens' committee.

Marshal, they found him guilty, and they--

they hung him at the livery.

Jake's luck never did change.

Didn't even mark his grave, like he had no name.

His name never meant much, maybe nothing.

But it was all Jake had.

I'll see they put up a headstone, son.

Well, I guess even Jake would say it don't matter.

Whenever a man's lynched, it matters.

Everyone's entitled to a fair trial,

and I'm gonna see there's an investigation.

Investigation?

Two minutes of talking with the Sheriff or the Judge?

Or even Mr. King, who owns this town?

No.

I've been in a dozen towns like Kingville.

Dirt gets swept under the rug real quick.

It's not gonna be like that this time.

No?

Well, I'll stick around and see.

Jake and me, we ran into a dozen men like Mr. King before.

The whole world jumps when they want it to.

Miss Nolan, you say you came down

here 4 o'clock this morning?

No more than a minute each way.

And Cate was dressed?

Yes, sir.

Anybody else been in here since then that you know of?

No, sir.

The Sheriff told Tom-- he's our bartender, Tom Hart-- the room

had to be locked for evidence.

What time the saloon close up?

Midnight, sir.

You came down here 4 o'clock in the morning?

What are you, an early riser?

No, sir.

I mean, I kind of had a restless night, like they say.

Wind keeping me awake, I guess.

Come down to make myself some coffee.

Was Cate a heavy drinker?

Heavy?

Oh no, sir.

Cate never touched a drop in her life.

Least wise not that I ever knew of.

Thank you, Miss.

You could have denied his request.

You could have ruled that Fielder killed her,

and that would have been it.

Such a denial and ruling would imply

an inquest had been duly held.

Dillon would have challenged it.

And what in hell ever prompted you to bring a United

States Marshal into this town?

I thought he'd come in, and the judge

would hand Fielder over to him for a trial in another town.

You didn't have the spine to stand up to the crowd!

Marshal is poking his nose into everything.

He's been all over town, asking questions.

All right.

Let's try to get this thing into some kind of order.

Now, some hotheads took the law into their own hands,

and they hanged Jake Fielder.

That's too bad, but it's done.

The Sheriff can't identify the man who did it, so it's open

and shut that unknown persons-- outsiders,

we'll call them-- did it.

Let's be very careful how you word that verdict.

The inquest that Marshal Dillon requests

is a hearing into Cate's death, not Jake Fielder's.

Cate's death?

But Jake Fielder killed her.

He was arrested and being held for trial.

It's the legality of his death the Marshal

ought to be concerned with.

You must follow his logic, Mr. King.

If the inquest verdict in Cate's death

reads that she was killed at the hands of a person or persons

unknown, then Jake Fielder becomes

an innocent lynch victim.

I don't wanna hear that word lynch again.

I'm merely pointing out that Mr.

Dillon is a very clever man.

He knows he'll walk into a blank wall

in any hearing on Jake Fielder.

He also knows that if Fielder's guilt is accepted,

so then will be the fact that he was simply

hanged a bit before his time, just a slightly twisted but not

too painfully out of joint.

But if the verdict in Cate's death

is that she was killed by the hands of a person or persons

unknown and not by the hands of Jake Fielder,

then Jake Fielder must be presumed to be innocent

and hanged by the people of this town.

And that, Mr. King, is the very large can of peas

that the Dodge marshal wants to open.

All right.

Warfield, tomorrow morning, you're going to open and close

that hearing within an hour.

Jake Fielder killed Cate Gear, and he

did it beyond a question.

That Marshal goes back to Dodge with nothing to hold him here,

because just as you said, nobody's

gonna care about a killer who died

a little bit ahead of time.

And there's another reason why that hearing

has to be open and closed as quickly as possible.

There's a bunch of reporters in town.

If I see anything more than a back page story,

there's gonna be a follow-up story on your retiring

from the bench because of your health.

Oh, there's that boy staying, Fielder's son?

Probably in the same shack he and his old man were using.

Better bring him into town.

I don't want it to look like the people of this town

don't care about the orphan of a man that got himself hanged.

In fact, he can stay right here.

That insulting brat here with me?

I don't want him stirring things up.

Just keep him here quiet.

See if you can pick up some facts about his father.

You know, I got a hunch it shouldn't be too hard to prove

that Jake Fielder should have been a swinger

from a rope years ago, Ritter.

Oh, and Your Honor, if you have so much as a nickel beer

before this inquest is over--

[knocking on door]

Come in.

Even barn doors are closed.

The Sheriff said to come here.

You eaten?

No, not for a while.

Pitch in.

I was raised to eat everything on my plate,

so use common sense.

And you had to be told to eat everything?

I mean one doesn't waste food.

Oh, that works out OK too.

People waste it.

I mean, Jake and me used to do pretty good in the garbage

cans around high-falooting places.

Once, we got us a whole half a chicken out of a garbage can.

Somebody spit tobacco juice over it,

but we just cleaned it off the livery pump,

and ate the whole thing right down to the gizzard.

Ain't you hungry?

My appetite evaporated somewhere between the tobacco

juice and the gizzard.

I never figured no judge could afford to live like this.

Well, I can tell you frankly that he can't.

It's a sort of fringe benefit.

What's a fringe benefit?

Oh, just a deference to public figures,

people being gracious, making you comfortable

when you're in town.

Oh, you mean they pay for all this,

and then you kind of do 'em a favor back?

That's not what I said.

Jake used to call it one hand washing the other.

That's why the fella on the bottom kept getting his nose

rubbed in, Jake used to say.

I don't think your father qualified as a philosopher.

Am I right in presuming that your mother is dead?

Soon as she had me.

Who raised you?

Always been with Jake.

Them law books?

They are.

Always wanted to read a law book,

ever since the time they stuck Jake

and me in a Kansas City jail.

What was the offense?

We didn't have $10.

They said it wasn't allowed.

I always wondered if somebody wrote that down, you

don't have $10, you go to jail.

It's called vagrancy.

And I'll thank you to take your greasy fingers off my pages.

Here's a mouthful.

Substantive law defines the content

of the norms of behavior that are to be legally enforced.

You memorize all this, Judge?

More or less.

I happen to know that your father couldn't read.

Where'd you pick it up?

Mail order catalog he used to carry around for me.

Sore backside or learn to read and write.

Learning was easier.

You learned to read and write from a mail order catalog?

Yeah.

I learned to count real good too.

I once figured out that the store was doing all right

with them shipping charges.

You know, you had 2% to the nearest dollar

they said for shipping charges.

But everything in the catalog was in 98.

You know, 1.98, 3.98, 6.98.

I finally figured out that a fellow

was paying 2% shipping charges on $0.02

sense he never even paid.

Which obviously stood you in good stead.

Are you finished eating?

Well, can I-- can I wait and eat later?

It'll be here.

I think it might be a good idea if you

took a bath in that water they heated up for me.

A bath?

Well, I'm not accustomed to mentioning this

in a social atmosphere, but there's

a gamey fragrance that seems to be permeating this room.

Them fancy words mean I stink.

Blessed be the mail order catalog.

Hey, Judge, I was figuring something,

and you're sure the one to answer to it.

Yeah?

Well, if I was to memorize all them law books,

could I be like you?

I mean, maybe work for somebody like Mr. King who owns

this town and live like this?

And all I'd have to do is know what's in the book

and do what Mr. King tells me to do?

Get in there and take your bath.

Maybe there's another trick to it I just don't know about it.

Take your bath!

It was awful early in the morning about 4 o'clock.

And I was sleeping, and I heard some screaming that woke me up.

And I-- well, I grabbed my gun, and I ran outside.

And he was coming out of Cate's, and I bumped right into him.

Well, he told me then that Cate was drunk and staggering.

And she was holding on to the table,

and she knocked the table over and fell down on the floor

and hit her head.

Well, everybody in town knows that Cate

never had a drink in her life.

Of course, he took the money from her safe.

You were witness the previous day to certain threats

uttered by Jake Fielder, were you not?

Yeah, he was hollering at her.

Said he'd get even.

He said, he'd get his money back,

or have a piece of her hide, is the way he put it.

You may step down, Sheriff.

Your honor, may I question the Sheriff?

I would remind everyone that they

are considered friends of the court

and may question witnesses.

Go ahead, Marshal.

Sheriff, how much money did Jake Fielder

have on him when you found him?

Almost $300?

And was there any left in the safe?

No, and I looked.

No, he cleaned it all out of cash.

Anybody search you?

You will remain quiet unless addressed.

You said anyone could ask questions.

Anyone does not apply to you.

I had a witness with me, Your Honor, in case anybody

thinks that I took any.

Oh, there's no reason for anyone to think that, Sheriff.

Any other questions, Marshal?

No, Your Honor.

You may step down, Sheriff.

I now call Miss Minnie Nolan to the chair.

Just-- just the shock of it.

I kept screaming.

You were also present at the time Jake Fielder made

threatening remarks to Cate?

Yes, sir.

He was powerful mad, I tell you.

You may step down, Miss Nolan, unless Marshal

has further questions.

Miss Nolan, you say that Cate was fully

dressed when you found her.

Yes, sir.

Was she always in the habit of being

dressed that late at night?

I don't know, sir.

Now, Your Honor, this is all just a waste of time.

We all burn a little midnight oil now and then,

when there's work to be done.

I quite agree, Marshal.

Obtuse speculation can only delay these proceedings.

But, Your Honor, it seems to me that if Miss Gear was fully

dressed that late at night after the saloon was closed,

maybe she was expecting a visitor.

Are you suggesting that we now probe

into Cate's personal life?

Well, this young lady has just told me that Cate never

took a drink in her life, and yet I

found a broken brandy bottle and several glasses

on the floor of that office.

Who was she drinking with?

Jake Fielder?

Oh no, sir.

I mean--

Well, what do you mean?

Well, I didn't mean anything.

I didn't see any.

You know, Miss Nolan, you've been pretty nervous

during these proceedings.

Could it be because you're not telling us something you know?

Why--

Miss Nolan, are you aware of the severe penalty

for obstructing justice?

But I tell you, I didn't feel anything, honestly.

Well, them maybe you'd better tell us what

it was that you didn't see.

Well, I heard a noise downstairs about 2:30.

And I come down, and I saw the light on in Cate's office.

And I heard her screaming and hollering,

telling somebody to get out.

But it wasn't none of my business,

so I went back upstairs.

And you didn't see anybody in the office?

No, sir.

The door was just open a little.

I-- I didn't even see Cate.

And she wasn't using anybody's name with all this hollering?

No, sir.

She was just-- she was just hollering at him to get out.

Miss Nolan, I-- I think maybe you

got a pretty good idea who was in that office,

even if you didn't see him.

Maybe that's why you're so nervous.

Marshal, this is pure speculation.

I'm sure Miss Nolan has told us everything she knows.

You may step down, Miss Nolan.

It is my finding after listening to all of the witnesses

at this inquest that Cate Gear died at the hands--

Your Honor, I'd like to call the bartender here

at Cate's, Tom Hart.

We already have a deposition from Mr. Hart,

stating that he closed the saloon as usual at midnight

and went directly home.

I know, Your Honor, but would you mind if he

states that in open court?

I now call--

Your Honor, would you please-- since we're

going to be crossing all the T's and dotting all the

I's, I think that Jake Fielder's son

here ought to be questioned.

Why, certainly nobody else can give us a better insight

into the man's character.

And, Your Honor, I suggest that we recess to prepare

for such a long afternoon.

Recess to 1 o'clock.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Mr. Hart.

There's a witness chair waiting for you.

Marshal, I-- I was just gonna ride out

to my-- to my sister's place.

I got word she wasn't feeling too good.

Sorry to hear it.

Want me to send a doctor?

Doctor?

No.

No, I don't think she needs no doctor.

She ain't feeling that bad.

Let's go.

Where did you pick up that disgusting habit?

What?

Get rid of that cut in your mouth.

You've had the upbringing of an animal.

You know, you're like Jake was in a lot of ways,

yelling at me when you're mad at yourself.

I used to feel sorry for Jake, like I feel sorry for you.

I don't recall asking for your sympathy

or feeling any need for it.

You know, Jake was almost as smart as you, in his way,

I mean.

A bunch of dogs, he used to say, and just

so many bones to go around.

So you gotta be quicker, and slyer,

better thieving than everybody else, or you get left out.

And that philosopher placed him at the end of a rope.

Well, and Jake was stupid, all right.

I resent your insulting your father.

I'm not insulting him.

I'm just saying the truth.

How in the world did he put up with you?

Didn't, I guess.

Always fighting, Jake and me.

Your father is dead.

If you can't return a little of the love he showed you,

then at least show a bit of reverence at his passing.

Jake never loved me.

I didn't love him.

We just were together.

That's all.

Like two fellas going in the same direction and no reason

to be together, no reason not to be.

What a pair.

Look, Judge, I know you gotta say Jake killed that woman.

Well, maybe it just don't matter.

I mean, I know you're afraid of Mr. King,

and I bet if Jake could say something right now, he'd say,

Judge, it just don't matter.

You have an irritating habit of treating your father's

innocence as fact.

Jake was nothing, Judge.

I kept thinking about that, watching you today.

You know, I was wrong about them lawbooks.

Just learning them don't make a judge.

You know what it takes?

I'm afraid to ask.

Just being you.

I mean, Judge Warfield, the way-- the way

you look at people, and-- and they

like you, even if you're mad at them,

or even if they know you get drunk and work for Mr. King.

Even I come to like you.

Well, you ain't slick is the way Jake'd put it.

Just being liked.

People seeing something, sorta knowing you

wanna be kind, sorta knowing you trust 'em.

Sure is something to have.

Jake Fielder came into this town without one iota of value

to society, including conceiving you.

He was as unimportant in the scheme

of things as a falling leaf.

Less so.

The leaf at least adds something to the ground.

Yeah, like I said, Jake was nothing.

I'll do the saying.

He was your father!

I'll tell you something, boy.

It's the dead who rest in peace, not the living.

Yeah, I guess Jake was all them things.

I-- I notice you keep referring to your father

by his given name.

A given name means his first name as opposed to your calling

him--

I know what it means.

You're an exceptionally bright boy.

I don't have to be bright to know what you're trying to do.

The one thing Jake used to always say,

there ain't one lie out of 10 anybody believes.

So it just ain't worth the breath to lie,

unless it'll save your skin.

Well, summing up Jake Fielder's character,

we have a thief as well as a child beater.

You have a man who has never displayed even a shred

of affection for this boy.

You have a man with a violent temper, who

has been jailed for various offenses,

including assault and finally murder.

Oh, I guess it's pretty clear what kind of a man

Jake Fielder was.

How old are you, boy?

16.

I don't agree with Mr. King that you're very bright for 16.

Can you recall any instances of your father stealing?

Yeah, plenty of times.

He robbed a general store in Tucson

once for a pair of boots that didn't even fit me right.

Picked the pocket of a driver when we needed

train fare to Abbeyville.

And I remember once when I was sick,

he butchered a range calf so he could make us a beef broth.

Was your father also sick at the time?

No, just me.

Why?

Well, if you can't see the significance there,

let it pass.

Speaking of significance, what has

this got to do with anything?

I'll handle this hearing, Mr. King.

About those beatings?

Plenty of times.

I already told you once.

He beat me whenever he damn well felt like it.

We can dispense with the profanity.

Whenever he felt like it, now, what does that mean?

Forcing you to read and write was one reason.

Any others?

Well, there was running away.

Took firewood to my back that time.

Near broke it.

And he never loved you?

Jake?

I told you once.

You told everybody about an illiterate man who couldn't

express himself except in anger, who was

frustrated by his lot in life.

You told us about a man who beat his child so that he wouldn't

end up as he was, unable to read and write

and thus condemned to be another Jake.

You told us about a man who beat you for running away,

when that running away would have

relieved him of the responsibility

of caring for you.

You told us about a man who stole,

not merely for his own benefit but that you

might have boots and nourishing food when you were sick.

You told us about a man who would have found it easier

to feed and clothe himself, would have found it easier

to cut himself off from the ungrateful whelp he

was saddled with.

He brought you to the threshold of manhood

to the best of his limited ability.

And you say he has no affection for you, no love?

Tell me something, boy, what is your conception of love?

A smile, a soft word?

He kept you with him, a newly born babe.

How, I'll never be able to understand.

It must have been a feat for him to feed

and protect you, when you couldn't walk or feed yourself.

And you say he didn't love you?

How many ways must a father express his love?

Shut up!

You knew a man who loved you very deeply.

He just never knew the words.

[sobbing]

Jake.

It's like I told everybody already.

I closed the place up at midnight, minute after, maybe.

We all know that a side door was left open.

That's how Jake Fielder got in.

Now, how is it you closed up the place for the night

and yet failed to close that door?

Well, I must have forgot, I guess.

How much money did the bar make over the weekend?

$300, maybe.

DILLON: And what about the gaming tables?

I don't know about that.

DILLON: Would you like to take a guess?

Your Honor, Mr. Hart has already

testified he doesn't know!

Are you making a point, Marshal?

Yes, I am.

Jake Fielder was found with $300 on him.

Now, that's the money taken out of the safe.

I'd like to know what happened to the rest of the receipts.

Maybe the tables broke even.

Oh yeah.

That's right.

I remember now.

Cate told me she'd come out even.

Mr. Hart, are you aware of the penalties for perjury,

even in a hearing like this?

It's five years imprisonment.

Your Honor, this is downright intimidation!

Are you making a specific charge, Marshal?

Cate employed six men to run those gaming tables for her

over the weekend.

Now, they're paid on a 20% commission basis.

I checked the vouchers at the bank this morning.

According to those vouchers, over $1,500

was made at the tables on that weekend.

Are you still gonna tell me that Cate said that she broke even?

Well, maybe she meant for the whole week.

No, she didn't mean that, Mr. Hart,

and you and I both know it.

But we'll let that pass for a minute.

You like Napoleon Brandy, do you?

Oh, she didn't get that bottle for me.

That--

Well, who did she get it for, then?

She doesn't drink yourself.

Marshal, you're asking tricky questions.

Nothing tricky about it.

But I'd advise you to think pretty

carefully before you answer.

Them reporters are writing all this down, Mr. King.

I got a wife and two boys.

I don't want 'em to think I'd done nothing wrong.

You're right, Marshal.

We-- we was there, all right.

But nobody done nothing to Cate.

Who's we?

Mr-- Mr. King and-- and me.

Mr. King and-- and Cate was arguing.

Seems as Cate was trying to hold out some money on him,

and suddenly Cate just up and slapped

Mr. King across the face, and he raised his hand,

and when he done that, she jumped back and slipped

and fell over the table.

Mr. King never even touched her.

Are you saying Mr. King was a partner

with Cate in the saloon?

Well, Cate got all the money from the bar, but-- but all

the money from the gaming tables and all the rest,

well, that-- that went to Mr. King.

Cate had to pay him every month in order to stay in business.

But Cate was alive when we left.

Isn't that true? -Oh yes, sir.

That-- that's right.

She was.

She hit her head on the wood box,

but it didn't appear to be nothing wrong with her.

She was just cussing up a blue streak.

What happened when she hit her head on the wood box?

Mr. King tried to help her up, but she knocked his hand away,

and she told us both to get out.

So that's what we'd done.

Couldn't say nothing to nobody about it,

because it just wouldn't look right for nobody

to know that Mr. King was making money off of Cate's place.

But nobody done nothing wrong.

No, nothing except leaving an injured woman lying

on the floor without even calling a doctor,

letting an innocent man swing from the gallows, that's all.

Your Honor, the only important thing

is that Cate Gear was alive when we left.

The fact that I had a little business

deal, and incidentally, all those funds went

into the benefit of Kingville.

The important fact is that Jake Fielder

later came to her office, stole her money, and killed her!

Any other questions, Marshal?

No, Your Honor, but I do have an observation.

Now, nobody actually saw Jake Fielder kill Cate Gear.

Now it could have been that she was more seriously injured

than these men thought she was.

Now, it could also be possible that when Jake Fielder came in,

it happened the way he said it was.

He found her staggering around the office,

and then she reeled backwards and fell on the floor.

It's possible, Marshal, but it's speculation.

Nothing at this trial has proved Jake

Fielder's guilt. On the other hand,

nothing has proved his innocence.

And since by all the relevant testimony,

Cate Gear was alive when last seen,

I hereby rule that the evidence presented indicates that she

died at the hands of-- I hereby rule

that Cate died at the hands of unknown misfortune.

The probable cause of death was a fall, the results most likely

delayed until she was alone.

What about Jake Fielder?

He was lynched.

It's a difficult word to use, but lynched

Jake Fielder certainly was.

The people who did this terrible deed will have to live with

their personal guilt. However, there were

many invisible hands on that rope,

Sheriff Ritter's, Mr. King's--

Speak for yourself!

You're quite right.

My hands, above all, were on that rope that swung

Jake Fielder to his death.

None of us condones murder.

Perhaps the least guilty of us all

are those who actually sent Jake Fielder to his death,

the citizens of Kingville.

They had no respect for law or judgement,

because they knew that the Sheriff's

office and this judge's bench were bought

and paid for over the years.

When there is contempt for law, every man feels that he

is equal to passing judgment.

The major guilt is mine, with Mr.

King running me a close second.

You built a community solely dependent

on you, looking to you for guidance.

No one could see the rot your foundation was based upon.

Sheriff Ritter only wanted to please Mr. King,

only wanted to remain in an undeserved office.

Well, that's human enough.

My decision as to Jake Fielder, my decision,

and perhaps my last, is that he died

at the hands of misfortune.

There are those who will say when they've

read the reporter's comments that no justice has

been done here.

I disagree.

Lynch towns cannot survive.

They inevitably wither into the obscurity

they've so justly earned.

We need no predictions from a gutter drunk.

That's all you were and will be again.

Well put, Mr. King, and quite right, at least what I was.

Will be again?

Perhaps.

This hearing is adjourned.

Well, what did you gain here, Marshal,

with all of your meddling?

Nothing has changed.

You haven't been listening, Mr. King.

Well, Rob, what are your plans?

Oh, just move on, I guess.

Ever been in [inaudible], Nebraska?

Never even heard of it.

Well, it's a small town where I hung out my first shingle

a good many years ago.

I was a young lawyer then, a very impatient young lawyer.

Thinking of going back?

I'm a bit more patient now.

I suppose the town's grown a lot.

I wouldn't be surprised that I'd need a law clerk.

What's a law clerk do?

Well, supposed to learn, read a lot,

do a lot of running around, receive no pay.

Sounds the same as I've been doing all my life.

[inaudible], boy.

I'll tolerate none of your impudence and

your disreputable appearance.

ANNOUNCER: Stay tuned for exciting scenes

from our next "Gunsmoke."

[theme music]