Original subtitles

Tonight's story deals with one of the cruelest

of rackets yet devised by the corruptors.

Its victims may be your wife and child.

For if you should die today,

the legal machinery that you believe will protect your

loved ones may very well be used against them.

This is J.J. Dolan.

Representative of many legal pirates who would plunder your estate

in the very court that is supposed to protect widows and orphans.

And this is Judge Andrew LeRoy, who appointed him as administrator.

Judge LeRoy is an honored member of the bench.

The money you leave your wife and child could find its way into his court.

If so, much of it will stick to his hands.

The outmoded probate codes make it possible for legal thieves to

pick the pockets of a corpse with the full protection of the law.

And this is one of the destined victims, Ann Buckman,

an orphan who has just lost her father. Now helpless and alone,

She will shortly be placed like a sacrificial lamb on the altar

of one of the corrupted high priests of the legal profession.

The events involving Anne's ordeal began a week after the funeral,

with the landing of a private plane.

What's the matter with that guy?

I told him not to take that approach.

He's gonna crash for sure.

He's trying to say something.

He's drunk.

What do you know?

He's a judge.

Target, the Corrupters.

Hello, Andrew. Your call came just in time as I was leaving the hospital.

How's the damage, Judge?

Coming along. Now they can see what I mean is

repercussions from flying under the influence.

You knocked the Russians off the front page.

Reporters loading up any? Well,

you know how they distort facts for the sake of headlines. The truth is,

I wasn't drunk. What'd you smell of when they pulled you off the plane?

Perfume? 86 proof? All right, I had a drink.

But I took something for my cold, too, and the two just didn't mix.

Even one drink before taking off. What were you celebrating, and who with? Alec,

my private life is no concern of the party's.

Judge, you lived wrapped in cellophane. You've got no private life.

You lost it the minute we got you elected. I can hardly forget that.

Do you know what the papers would do to you?

If they learned why a judge was flying regular

like airmail to a certain beach resort.

Alec, it may be impossible for you to understand this,

but there's some things in a man's life he can't give up.

For anything.

That's a big statement.

Considering where you could go with the party back of you.

And you're on the way. Now, the boys appreciate the way you play ball.

Now, they may run you for pitcher next at the city hall. And after that,

the governor's mansion. Who knows?

So why let some girl... I'm sorry, Alec.

Discretion aside, gentlemen, and which of us can cast a stone?

But there's something else we want to see you about. Something even more urgent.

We've each of us got to come up with another $100,000 in that land deal.

Another $100,000?

An overcall.

Sorry.

But you were sure we wouldn't have to come up with any more money?

If we could bring in another partner.

Surely there's someone you can find.

No one we can trust. You wouldn't want it to get around that

you had the inside word on where the airport was going in,

which is why we took an option on all the acreage around it.

But I couldn't come up with another cent.

A hundred thousand.

Every penny I've got is tied up in that deal, including all I could borrow.

You've got company, Judge.

We each have to kick in another hundred grand, no matter how.

R, all of us lose everything.

Now, I'm sure you and I are good losers,

but I don't think Alec here would take it philosophically.

60 days, Judge.

That's all we've got.

I'll get it. That must be Daddy.

How's my little girl?

Half out of her mind worrying about you. I phoned the hospital,

but they said you'd gone.

Well, I managed to bribe my way out this afternoon.

Where's your mother?

Shopping.

I hope she gets back late so we can have some time together.

It's so wonderful having you home. I never told you,

but the whole time you were away,

I used to have dreams night after night that you were never coming back,

that you'd been killed in that crash.

Remember what I used to tell you about dreams when you were a little girl?

Never to trust them.

But now you're home, it'll be like old times, just the two of us.

Until the right man comes along?

I'll be a little old lady by then, waiting for someone like you.

There's a Mr. Paul Marino waiting to see you, Judge. He says it's very important.

Marino? I'm a newspaper man. I apologize for dropping in without calling,

I didn't want to run the risk of being turned away again. I don't remember.

Oh, at least half a dozen times while you were in the hospital.

Oh, yes, but then I wasn't seeing anyone. This is my daughter, Carol. Miss LeRoy.

Hello.

If you'll excuse me, I'll go help the maid ruin what might have been a nice dinner.

What can I do for you, Mr. Marino?

If it has anything to do with the accident,

I have nothing to add to the statement I've already given to the patient. No,

this concerns something else. No, please be brief.

I've just come home from the hospital, and I've got a lot of... Oh, I won't be long.

All I want is the answer to a few simple questions.

Well, when a man tells me that, I know I'm in for a long siege.

Doesn't that depend on his defenses?

Defenses?

Judge, I may be very naive,

but I've always regarded the legal profession as one of the higher callings of men,

because it protects something sacred, the commandments of God by which we live.

Any member of the legal profession should be above reproach,

but particularly a judge, do you agree?

Of course.

Just what are you implying? The day after your accident,

when your name hit the headlines, I received this letter from a Mrs. Frances Travis.

Name sound familiar?

No. Her husband's estate was probated through your court.

Well, there's so many estates.

If I had to remember every heir, this one should ring a bell.

You declared her mentally incompetent to handle her affairs and appointed

a special administrator in the absence of an executor named in the will.

Oh, yes.

She charges in this letter that the administrator was a thief.

That he sold off our property at a price way below its market

value to a company called the Sterling Investment Corporation.

And that you not only approved the sale, but the exorbitant court fees.

What's your version of it, Judge?

My version?

Well, surely after speaking to this woman who's obviously mentally ill,

you can't give any credence to such malicious slander.

But I haven't spoken with her.

Mrs. Travis is beyond rich.

Well, I suggest you find her.

I found her.

Finally.

This will be in tomorrow's papers.

That's Mrs. Travis.

In the city morgue.

They fished her out of the river.

Apparently, she had taken her own life shortly after mailing that letter.

I'm sorry to hear that.

But she wasn't the only one left destitute after her

husband's estate had passed through your court.

As a result of this letter, I did a little digging into the probate records.

I found any number of widows and orphans in similar straits.

Are you accusing me of... Of milking estates.

Of appointing the same administrator time and time again.

Of granting him big fees.

So that there's little or nothing left for the heirs.

Just who do you think you are to presume to tell a judge how to run his court?

What kind of a judge are you talking about? One that twists the law like a pretzel?

You self-appointed muckraker. I've known men like you before.

And where are they now? Gone with the tabloid rags.

And speaking of the law, if you dare to print one word of

those slanderous allegations. I'll print it, all right.

When I can take you into court, Judge.

Mr. Dolan to see you, sir.

Have him come in.

Mrs. Dolan?

Do you mind dropping me off?

Stop in, Laredo.

I see the judge has introduced me.

You're a newspaper man. In your job, you gotta dig dirt to live,

so you came to dig in the judge's garden.

Want some advice?

Well, you're gonna get it anyway. It's free.

When you take on a judge, it's like that kid with a slingshot.

How many can knock over a biggie with just a pebble?

That's all your typewriter can bat when you take on the law itself. Just pebbles.

Why so solicitous, Mr. Dilder?

J.J.

It's an unfriendly world, Mr. Moreno.

Does it cost you to act friendly?

Maybe I don't feel very friendly toward a man whose name keeps

coming up with nauseating regularity of appropriate records.

A special administrator appointed by Judge Leroy.

Man does a good job, gets a repeat.

Oh, you must do a very good job indeed, Judge Ignace.

Remember her?

Mrs. Travis.

She landed in the river after you and Judge Leroy left her penniless. Now look,

the two of you gobbled up everything her husband left.

But did you only take a little bite and pass the

rest of it on to the judge under the table?

This is where you get off.

I can't say it was a pleasure to meet a human

scavenger, Mr. Dolan. Good night, Mr. Marino.

Here it is. Read it to me, will you?

Answering your query regarding estates filed for probate last year,

our figures show approximately 150,000 estates involved,

total value exceeding over $11 billion.

State Recording Company, San Diego.

What they didn't tell us is that every year,

hundreds of millions of dollars never find their way to the rightful heirs.

This will give me the lead paragraph of my column.

I want you to dig up everything you can on J.J. Dolan.

Who's Dolan? Judge LeRoy's pilot fish.

I want a complete rundown.

From the cradle to the carnation in his lapel.

Check.

Maybe through him we'll be able to find out who the shark is going to bite next.

I'm J.J. Dolan.

Oh, yes. Won't you come in?

Thank you.

I'm Miss Larkey, her companion.

And this is Mr. Dolan.

My condolences.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

Miss Buckman, I've been appointed administrator of your father's estate.

This was done because he didn't name someone to

take over after the one he appointed passed on.

He didn't have anyone else but his brother, and now Anne is completely alone.

Judge Leroy thought I should see if there was anything I could do for you.

She thanks you for your kindness.

She's praying for her father.

Oh God, full of compassion, grant perfect rest.

Beneath the sheltering wings of thy presence unto the soul of my father.

May he repose in peace.

Amen.

It must have come as a terrible shock to find

out that his only child was born a deaf-mute.

I remember like it was yesterday.

When he came and told me, he cried like a baby. And then he wouldn't believe it.

And when I came to his house, he'd hold her in his arms, and he'd say,

God will make her talk and sing and laugh,

cry and hear like any other baby in time, in time.

God had other ideas.

What could Buckman do?

He had to go along.

A man like that must have been obsessed with the idea

of leaving his child provided for after he was gone.

Particularly after a mother died, no family.

That's all he worked for, all his life, just to leave her a little something.

Just what did he leave her?

It's all there across the way.

Here.

Fifteen years ago, a for sale went up on those empty lots.

You could have them for peanuts.

But who wanted dirt to pay taxes on?

Buckman.

Buckman had a vision.

That dirt in America would be like gold.

I'm happy to say he didn't follow my advice.

He bought with his last penny,

and he kept them all through the years so that when they were sold,

his little girl could live off the interest.

If she gets it.

Why?

Something wrong?

I don't want to alarm you, but Anne's estate's in jeopardy.

Jeopardy?

Buckman will turn over in his grave.

A man works and slaves all his life so his little girl shouldn't

have to come to strangers for a piece of bread.

Where are the courts? The lawyers? Where? Where?

Paul, you know what you're asking? He's a thief.

And I know who his next victim is. He also happens to be a judge.

And for one judge to move against another,

what happened to that idealistic young lawyer I used to know?

Lean in body and pure in principle. Okay, okay, don't rub it in.

So I lost the girly figure, along with your sense of right and wrong.

Look, a man comes in here to relax and get away from...

You know what Leroy is up to, and you're willing to walk away from it.

Why pick on me to go after him?

Because of the best judge I know.

And from what I've learned about the probate racket,

it takes quite a boy with a legal lance to... Oh, wait a minute.

The vast majority of probate judges and attorneys are men of integrity.

I know that, but what are you and the other honest

members of the bar doing about the Laroys?

Don't you understand that by your very silence

you condone the thieves in your profession?

Have you ever tried to get one doctor to testify against another doctor?

You think it's any easier to put judge against judge? All right,

leave it in the club. The people need to believe

in the integrity of the professional man.

If you destroy their faith, you do more harm than good.

Stop trying to weasel out of it, Walter.

Are you going to help me kick Leroy off the bench?

Get me the evidence, and I'll move to impeach Leroy.

I met the heir last night. I went out to the house, get acquainted as usual.

And the eventual guardian, Miss Lockie?

She looks like she knows from nothing either, legally.

Then what's wrong?

I'm begging off, Judge.

I want no part of this one. Please, hand it to somebody else.

Why?

It's just not for me, that's all.

You never turned down an administrator's fee before.

Well, I'm doing it this time. I want to know why.

Why?

Because a man has to look in a mirror. That's why.

You'd be surprised how many mirrors there are when you don't want to see yourself.

All right, so an estate passes through, and some of it sticks to our fingers,

but to stick your hand in up to the elbow.

When a man's worked hard all his life to take care of his kid after he's gone,

and that kid's deaf and dumb. A mute? Yes.

Reads lips, uses sign language.

That's how she hears and speaks. Been that way all her life,

according to Miss Lockie.

Her mother died at birth.

Now with her father gone, she's got no one.

No one except this woman who raised her and who's got

to be supported by the estate or she'll have to quit.

And you know where that'll leave the girl, Judge.

Alone, without money, nobody to take care of her.

Thank you for your past favors, Judge, but I've got to sit this one out.

Bye.

Daddy?

Nothing, Andrew. I suppose Daddy isn't hungry.

I believe your father can answer for himself, Carol.

As Carol says, I'm not hungry.

Something happened today in court to upset you?

Or was it something out of court?

You know, Daddy, how he worries about everything.

Must you always answer for your father, Carol?

Well, can't you see he doesn't feel like talking, Mother?

Does he ever? Marion.

I think Carol's old enough to realize what...

Where are you going?

I've got an important meeting.

Good night.

That's right. Run off to your important meeting.

Mother, please.

Can't you see something terrible's worrying Daddy, weighing on his mind?

What's the big emergency, Judge?

I want you to know I won't be able to raise the money in time.

You'll have to make other arrangements.

But we told you, we can't lay it off or bail you out.

You can have my share.

I'm willing to lose everything. You're willing? How come? Well, I have no choice.

No?

From where I sit, do you know what I see?

That 100 grand practically in your wallet.

The Buckman estate.

You think it landed in your court by accident?

By the way, the party needs a contribution of 30 grand.

Haven't I done enough?

One favorite deserves another.

I can't touch the assets of that estate.

The heir's a minor. The guardian's an old lady.

You appointed the special administrator in the

absence of an executor named in the will. The law.

Do you need a better setup? The administrator's resigned.

J.J. resigned? Even he couldn't stomach it. The legatee's an 18-year-old girl,

a deaf-mute. She has no living relative.

Look, I appreciate your sentiment, Judge. Believe me, I do.

I've got children of my own.

But since when can you afford... It isn't a question of sentiment, but humanity.

Humanity?

You want to bleed? Bleed for us.

Everything I've got except what's on my back is in that deal. I'm sorry,

but a man has to draw the line somewhere.

Well, you drew it too late, Judge.

A day too late. After you hung out your shingle

and called yourself an attorney at law.

What kind of an attorney were you?

Right from the start, you used the law to chase a buck.

Right or wrong, never counted, only lining your pockets.

What did the law ever mean to you but knowing how to get around it?

So don't suddenly develop a conscience at our expense.

We picked you for judge at the probate court, but not by accident.

You had special qualifications built in from way back.

You've still got them.

You'll handle that estate.

You'll sell off the assets, and you'll come up with your share of the deal.

Because we're not going to let you ruin us. It's as simple as that.

It's still my court.

If I don't admit the will to probate, you can't touch a penny of her assets.

You'll admit it, because every man has something

he cares more about than a thing called honor.

With some, it's a wife.

With others, it's a sweetheart, a daughter.

You run along, Judge.

You'll be having company tonight.

JJ will bring the signature.

Hello, little miss.

Thank you.

Where's your friend? Oh, she's gone out?

Well then, how did you hear...

Uh, I don't... Oh, when you press the button... I see.

Thank you.

I have a paper here for her to sign. Now, if you'll just tell me where she is.

I mean, if you'll write it.

You don't know?

Oh.

Oh, I don't mind if I do.

No, thanks.

I think I'll run along now. Just tell her I was here.

Thank you.

Goodbye.

I can't, Judge. I can't go through with it. I don't want to hear any details.

Please, Judge.

Get me off the hook.

The quickest way for both of us is to dispose of the estate.

I'm going to admit the will to probate tomorrow.

Pick up the court order, enabling you to sell

the assets in your capacity as administrator.

There's $5,000 in cash. Leave that alone. Just dispose of the property.

Three commercial lots worth $150,000.

Have them appraised at $20,000 and sell them to

the Sterling Investment Company for that amount.

You'll get the usual legal protection.

Maybe she hasn't got the $130,000, but at least she's got $25,000 left.

It's something, isn't it, Judge?

I mean, well, she's not out in the wet with no umbrella.

Good night.

Good night.

The only thing, Judge, I keep asking myself,

what happens when the umbrella gives out?

What's a girl who hasn't anyone left in the world who can't speak or hear?

What's she going to do? It'll rain an awful lot. Good night.

How utterly vile can you be?

Shut up.

Stealing $150,000 from a poor, helpless girl.

I said shut up.

Oh, no, I won't.

I'm going to stop you somehow.

Will you please stay out of things you don't understand?

What is there to understand? Andrew, you're a thief.

Stealing money from a handicapped girl. I heard everything.

I can depend on you for that. You're always snooping.

And who's given me reason? Done things behind my back.

Maybe if you'd been a wife instead of someone who poisons the air I breathe.

Oh, you wouldn't have gone to another woman, is that it?

Well, say it, as if I don't know the real reason for that private plane and

where you go off to every chance you get and why you need all that money.

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

Her $130,000 will pay for a lot of her time.

Just because you wear the ring, what do you know about being a wife?

As much as you know about being a husband.

You started it right, didn't you?

Tricking me into marrying you by swearing you were going to have a baby.

Yes, I loved you that much.

You loved me by not letting me forget who helped put me through law school,

who had to work while I tried to get started.

It was only in your mind.

I never said that.

You had other ways to remind me.

When this is over, you'll get your settlement.

Out of whose blood? That of a death mute?

You woke me quarreling.

Go back to your bed.

You go to bed, Mother. I said go back to your bed.

Why don't you leave Daddy alone? Why do you hound

him every minute he's home? Just leave him alone.

With the help of Judge Walter Mason,

my assistant and I had been digging up records

of estates Judge Leroy had picked clean.

Shocking was the human wreckage we discovered.

Widows had been dispossessed of their homes for want of adequate support,

orphans had been declared wards of the court, and then had been state institutions.

Many were shattered by their sudden change in fortune.

The record was all there to lay before the

Bar Association and the District Attorney.

But suddenly we had to move fast, for the Buckman will was filed for probate.

When did Mr. Dolan come to see her?

A few days ago.

He seemed like such a nice man.

Well, fortunately, there was nothing he could do until today, when Mr.

Buckman's will was filed.

Fortunately?

He couldn't sell any of the assets, but now he can with the approval of the court.

And if history repeats itself in Judge LeRoy's court,

Anne will see very little of the money her father left her.

But it's terrible.

I thought the court was supposed to protect widows and orphans.

Well, there's nothing automatic about it like so many people assume.

If an estate falls into the hands of a crooked judge,

he can rip into it like a barracuda.

And the law helps enough.

By making it complicated for people to hand on their money to their heirs.

So complicated that any number of people can join in the funeral feast.

Lawyers, crooked administrators, tax appraisers,

who get a percentage of the appraisal, court-appointed guardians.

Now, luckily, Anne's father named you guardian in his will.

Otherwise, Judge Leroy could have sent in another shark for the kill.

Believing there's nothing a crooked judge finds more

appetizing than handling the estate of a minor.

Or should I say, mishandling.

What am I to do, Mr. Marino?

Anne has no one but me.

And I don't even know a lawyer.

No lawyer can do anything right now. Not until

they've made their move. Then they will.

Now, in the meantime, I want you to do exactly what I say.

Hello, Miss Buckman. Thank you.

And good afternoon to you, Miss Lockie.

Oh, hello, Mr. Dolan.

Glad to find you in this time.

Judge Leroy wants you to sign a paper.

Just routine when you're the guardian.

A lot of wherefores and whereases.

If you don't mind, I'll sign it later.

It just takes a minute.

I was just... How long does a signature take?

Well, I wanted to read it first.

Oh, that fine print?

You don't want to ruin your eyes.

Well, if I'm going to be her guardian, and I know Mr. Buckman wanted me to.

Certainly, that's what it says in the will. You're the guardian.

Then the least I can do for Anne is read what I sign in her behalf.

Miss Larkey, I'm with you. And I mean with you. But don't you trust me?

It is not a matter of trusting, Mr. Dolan.

Well, if not me, then the judge.

You don't think a judge would ask you to sign something

that wasn't grade A for the little lady?

I'm sure he wouldn't.

Well, then why hold up the wheels? Keep the court on the ropes.

Mr. Dolan.

J.J. to my intimates.

I have to run to the market before it closes.

I'll call you just as soon as I send.

Miss Larkey, you don't mind if I stay here and wait for you, do you?

Oh, no, no.

I won't be long.

Yes, please.

Well, I'm waiting for it, Judge. Don't press it.

You said you wanted it signed. Yes, but I don't want her to suspect anything.

It'll complicate matters no end. All right, I'll play it by ear.

That must be her. She's back. Well, let me know. I will.

Well, that didn't take very long, but remember me? Hello, Ant.

What are you doing here?

Getting set to bury you.

And Judge LeRoy.

What are you talking about?

Waiver of claim against administrator for sale of assets, for one thing.

Routine.

What's the big rush in selling?

She has enough to live on for a while.

She can't eat land, so we've got to convert it to cash.

Put the cash to work.

How much cash?

Whatever I can get for it.

From the Sterling Investment Corporation?

That's where it'll end up, won't it?

Like the estate of Mrs. Travis and all the others you had appraised.

It's way below their market value.

Look, Moreno, I've got to account to the court, but not to you.

You'll account to the court, all right.

But not Leroy's.

And you'll wind up in front of the grand jury unless you turn state's witness.

You're just fishing, Marino.

I'm not about to bite.

I've been appointed administrator legally. I'm moving

right along to the letter, not an inch off.

Now, look.

Don't hand me that letter of the law.

Feeding off a shark like Leroy.

Take a look at who you're going to eat alive this time.

Now cut out your tongue and fill your ears with cement.

So that you can't say a word or hear a thing.

And you'll know her world.

The girl you're pushing into the river.

Now!

I didn't want to. I tried to beg off. They wouldn't let me.

I got sick every time they sent me out on one of these graveyard jobs.

Who do you mean, they?

Big shots down at the campaigners.

After all the years I worked for the party, this is the way they pay me off.

The judge tosses me a bone after every funeral.

Isn't that one way politicians have to pay off hacks?

By using probate judges to hand out jobs?

At the expense of dead men?

Which is why neither party has ever kept its

promise to put an end to the probate swindle.

Sure, but I always got the short end of the stick.

Judges, the lawyers, they walk off fat. You are handed big fees,

right out of the estates. Sure, but who sees it?

If I don't kick back to the judge, the party grabs it.

I made enough contributions to elect everybody

all the way back to George Washington.

And if you don't believe it, just take a look at my IOU bank account.

You gonna give me back the waiver?

I've made a photostudded copy.

I figured I got to take it back, you know.

I'll need your help.

I'm sure when I get ready to go to the DA,

he'll see to it you're giving up your protection.

You know something, Marino? I feel like I just took a shower.

Sign? Nope.

And don't send me back again.

I'm taking a walk from the funeral feasts.

Like I told you before, there are an awful lot of

mirrors when a man doesn't want to see himself.

Bye, Judge.

Goodbye, J.J.

Yeah?

Alec, this is Judge Leroy.

Oh, hello, Judge.

Looks like I'll need a replacement for JJ.

JJ quit again?

That's right. Now, why would he do a thing like that?

I don't know, but I'll need another administrator. No problem.

But JJ, the years the party fed him.

Must have been a matter of conscience,

difficult as that may be for us to understand. You're wrong, Judge. I understand.

JJ had a visitation, but he wasn't doing right.

Knowing that the resignation of J.J.

Dolan would only result in the appointment of another administrator,

would also do the bidding of Judge Leroy,

I had the property that was left to Ann Buckman properly appraised

early the following morning in order to block the inevitable sale.

That's what the papers say.

Breakfast, Judge?

What do you say? Two hours of the papers.

A man slipped in the tub.

A fatal accident.

You want to donate to his funeral?

You were afraid he'd expose your probate ring, so you had him murdered.

Judge, let's not forget who's with us at the trough. No more.

You won't involve me in murder. But you are involved, up to your gullet.

Do I have to explain the law to you?

I'm resigning.

I'm sorry, we can't accept it.

And I want you to know I've made a complete statement and put it in my vault

with instructions that be sent to the district attorney in event of my death,

however accidental that may appear to be.

Judge, believe me, I understand your moral predicament.

You went into the probate court because it's the

biggest source of income to the legal profession. That's a fact.

Just don't die in this country. You can't afford it.

But no system, however bad,

could function for a minute unless it had people

who were willing to sell their souls.

You sold yours when you thumbed your nose at the canon

of judicial ethics of the American Bar Association.

Whatever I did, murder was no part of it. No? A woman throws herself in the river.

That's not murder.

There's more than one way of giving a push. And the others?

Dying of slow want?

That sits easy on your conscience?

I'm not here to have you act as my confessors.

Judge, we still have a deal on.

The deadline holds.

I won't go through with it, and you won't dare expose me.

You'll go through with it.

Really, Mr. Marino, I haven't the faintest idea who you're talking about.

You never heard of Mr. Dolan?

I've already told you.

I'm sure he was murdered.

What on earth has that got to do with me?

He was associated with Judge Leroy in a probate ring.

I'm flattered by the company you think I keep.

Not think.

I happen to know Judge Leroy is, to say the least, a good friend of yours.

Since it wouldn't do me any good to deny it,

Do you mind telling me how you know the deep, deep secrets in my little black book?

I wouldn't put your relationship with Judge LeRoy in that category.

Oh, thank you.

What then?

Well, whatever else is involved, certainly an element of business entered into it.

Oh, I'm mercenary, too.

No, I'd say Judge LeRoy was.

When he named you as one of the principal stockholders

of the Sterling Investment Corporation,

the other two were his former law partners,

whom he evidently felt he could trust as much as you.

Well, now, assuming that you are right... It's in the state corporation records.

Is there anything wrong in being trusted by a judge?

Maybe you never knew this,

but that corporation was used to buy our properties out of estates.

Estates appraised at far below their fair market value

by a probate ring acting in collusion with... I don't believe it.

You're lying.

He'll have every opportunity to prove it.

In the meantime, you can give him a message from me.

Tell him not to move against the Buckman estate, or I'll nail him to the bench.

Yes?

Hello? Oh, Andrew.

Who is this?

Dorothy.

Is it all right to talk? I must talk to you.

Yes, sir. Go ahead, but make it quick. What's wrong?

Miss Marino was just here to see me.

Yes, I know.

What do you want?

He wanted to know about a Mr. Dolan. He says he was murdered.

Murdered? Andrew, do you know him?

Yes, he did some work for me.

But what kind of work?

Probate, of course. Will you control yourself?

Control myself?

Mr. Marino says he was associated with you in stealing from estates.

You can't blame all that on me.

Oh, darling.

What are you doing spying on Daddy? I want you to listen to your father.

I won't spy on him. I want you to know your father.

I only know I love you.

And I love you.

And no matter what you've done, Or how much you've involved me.

Oh, darling, it's only you I'm worried about.

Please don't do anything else that will get you into more trouble.

Dorothy listened.

Marino says you're not to move against the Buckman estate.

Or he'd nail you to the bench.

Now, Carol, do you understand?

I've known about this woman for years.

Your father closed the door between us.

And no matter what I did, He wouldn't open it.

Even now, when he's in so much trouble, I would

go to him if he would let me. I would go to him.

Everything's going to be all right. Now stop worrying.

How can it ever be all right?

You're too young to understand.

Carol?

Carol?

Carol?

What do you think they'll do next, Andrew?

Marino's lawyer will file an extraordinary writ

to prevent the final disposition of the estate.

The appellate court is certain to approve it.

Then the true ownership of the Sterling Investment Corporation will come out,

and they'll drag your name through the mud along with mine.

I told you before, I don't care about myself.

I do, very much.

And if you knew what was going to happen, why did you go through with it?

I'd gone too far to turn back.

But you could have resigned anything.

I tried.

And they wouldn't let you?

They had to have my share of the estate.

How could they stop you from resigning?

They have ways.

And you can be sure they'll let me be crucified.

And then go on to the next judge who'll work hand in hand with it.

I'm not trying to justify myself,

but it's not uncommon for a judge to pay tribute to the party that

elected him by handing out probate business and fat estate fees.

I know a judge in Chicago who appointed over 700 guardians in nine months,

and not one of them were needed.

And four of his political friends handled over 40% of the cases.

Do you think I'm alone in this?

I know, Andrew, but they're going to make an example of you.

Yes.

Yes, it'll get to the district attorney, and I'll be impeached.

Darling, and for what?

What corrupts any of us?

Do we really know? Is there any one answer?

What are we going to do?

I'm going to find a hole and try and bury myself.

Andrew, take me with you. I want to go with you.

The disappearance of Judge Leroy circumvented his impeachment.

But the evidence I was able to furnish the

district attorney enabled him to apprehend

other members of the probate ring in the course of the investigation which followed.

The appellate court ordered the assets of the

Buckman estate returned to its rightful owner.

The story you have just witnessed is fiction,

but we feel it serves to point up the fact that the

law must serve the people, not the corruptors.