05x01 - The Case of the Jealous Journalist

[bunniefuu]

(theme song playing)

* *

* *

The Adam York party,
now three days overdue,

must have been caught
in the sudden flash floods

that turned rivers
into raging torrents.

Little or no hope is held
that any of the three men

in the fishing party could
have survived the rapids

in the desolate north country.

Canadian authorities
have organized

ground search parties,

while Royal Canadian and
American Air Force helicopters

are combing the area.

We will bring you

further developments
as we get them.

The three missing fishermen
are now five days overdue,

and at nightfall,
authorities have announced,

they will recall
the search parties.

An anxious world
has all but given up hope

that the three men
are still alive.

With their death,
an era of journalistic history

will have come to a close.

Adam York--
the legendary Adam York--

was the last of
the crusading newspaper tycoons.

The world-famous publisher was
accompanied on his fishing trip

by his younger brother,
Prentiss York,

and by the managing editor
of Adam York's newspaper,

the Los Angeles Chronicle,
Mr. Tilden Stuart.

* *

(animal howling in distance)

(grunting)

(howling in distance)

Hey, men!

Over here!

Mr. Stuart...

(footsteps approaching)

It's Mr. Stuart.

Mr. Stuart,
where are the others?

Where's Adam York?

Where's his brother?

Dead.

They're all dead.

* *

Slug it slay.

Tell them to box it on page one.

"Slums breed
another m*rder.

More v*olence
in Derrick Flats."

And I'll tie that in
with the lead editorial.

(intercom buzzes)

Yes?

Just a minute.

Boyd Alison
to see you.

Boyd Alison?

Your uncle
didn't like him.

Said he was a
business maverick

with the ethics
of a rattlesnake.

(chuckles)
Well, as long as we have
a snakebite kit handy,

you send him in, Miriam.

Tell Mr. Alison
to come in, please.

Well... you're sitting
in a big man's chair.

I don't need you or anyone else
to tell me I can't fill it.

What is it you want,

Alison?

Do you intend to continue
Adam York's annexation fight

at Derrick Flats?

Yes, I do.

Adam York is dead.

Where the Chronicle
is concerned,

his ideas are still
very much alive.

You look a little
like your uncle.

You even sound a bit like him.

I wonder how big you'll talk
when the Chronicle is bankrupt.

Mind if I sit down?

Your, uh, advertising volume
is way off.

Your circulation
has hit a ten-year low.

You don't have enough cash
to meet this week's payroll,

and there isn't a bank in town
that'll lend you a red cent.

Do you, uh...

do you also know what I had
for breakfast this morning?

(chuckles)

The city's annexation
election is days off.

I figure it'll take,
oh, half a million dollars

to see the paper
through till then,

assuming a pickup
in circulation and
advertising both.

If half a million dollars
were available to you,

what security would you give
for such a loan?

The paper itself, I suppose.

There isn't anything else.

Yes, but you
don't own the paper.

Adam York's will is
being read this afternoon.

From what my uncle
always told me,

I believe my mother and I
will inherit a large part of it,

probably half.

And the other half?

Go to my aunt and her family,

Mr. and Mrs. Seward Quentin
and their son, Ralph.

Oh. Would they pool
their stock for security?

No.

The Quentin's only interest
in the Chronicle is to sell it

at the highest price.

And that isn't
your interest?

Mr. Alison, I don't
particularly enjoy

playing verbal
checkers with you.
(chuckles)

Now, if there's
something you have
to say, that's fine.

If not, I have work to do.

I'll lend you
half a million dollars

for days,
without interest,

with just yours and your
mother's stock as security.

Well, Mr. Alison, I...

Save it.

Your uncle didn't like me
any more than you do, obviously,

but he was a fighting man,

and I liked
and respected him.

I think you're
a lot like him.

My lawyers will be
in touch with you shortly.

And good luck.

Snakebite antitoxin
or a good, stiff drink,
what'll you have?

Anybody looks for me, I'll be
in Kerry Worden's office.

(door opens)

(door closes)

Everything seems
to be all right.

Okay, now,
nice and bright.

Snap it, Charlie.

That wraps it
up, girls.

Mark a set of proofs
for the fashion department.

I'd like to check 'em
this afternoon.

Oh, Ralph.

I just can't have lunch today.

I'm much too busy.

All right.
All right.

Cousin.

Kerry... it worked
like a dream.

Money-- I can get
ahold of enough money

to keep the paper going.

It's the answer
to everything--

the annexation fight,

all the things
Adam would have wanted.

I'll tell you
all about it tonight.

We do have a dinner date?

: . Joe...

I was in Perry Mason's office
this morning.

I know you're going there this
afternoon about Adam's will.

I was there this morning
to see about another will.

Prentiss?

He was a strange man,

my stepfather.

He was always busy,

busy with the paper,

busy fighting
Adam's fights,

and yet, not so busy to
leave me everything he had.

Ah, it wasn't much.

He didn't have much.

But that he should
think about me,

that he should be
concerned about me...

(intercom buzzes)

Kerry Worden.

(woman speaks inaudibly
over phone)

It's Miriam.

There's an attorney named
Bradshaw waiting for you.

Miriam says
he represents
a Boyd Alison.

Whew! Mr. Alison
wastes no time.

Tell her I'm on my way.

And I'll see you at : .

He's on his
way up now.

And, Joe...

good luck at Mason's office.

There are
outstanding shares of stock

in the Chronicle corporation.

Adam York owned
all the shares.

"To, uh, Tilden Stuart,
devoted friend

"and respected coworker,
I bequeath ten shares,

"his shares
to be nonvoting.

"To the surviving members
of my immediate family,

"to my only brother,
Prentiss York,

"to my sister,
Hope York Quentin,

"to her son,
Ralph Quentin,

"to my younger sister,
Grace York Davies,

"to her son,
Joseph Davies,

"to each of these
five members of my family,

"I bequeath shares.

"If any of the five members
of my family

"fail to survive me,
his or her shares

shall be divided equally
among the remaining survivors."

Now, since Prentiss York d*ed
in the river accident with Adam,

his shares are to be divided,
uh, accordingly

among the four
remaining survivors.

So you mean ownership
of the Chronicle

is to be divided equally
between my sister and her son

on the one hand,
and me and my son

on the other.

That is correct, Mrs. Quentin.

Well, what happens
if my sister and her son

decide they want to continue
operating the paper

while my son and I
decide we want to sell?

Is that what I wish to do?

Shut up.

Yes, Father.

Adam York's stock is assigned
to a trust corporation.

To avoid any gap in the, uh,
operation of the newspaper,

the management of the trust
is vested in me during probate,

with the stock

to be voted in accordance
with the instructions

of those who receive it
as set up in the will.

That doesn't solve anything--
there's still a / split

where control of the paper
is concerned!

There's an added
provision in the will

that the voting rights
in Tilden Stuart's

ten shares of stock be
assigned to Joseph Davies,

that Joseph Davies be named
publisher of the newspaper.

HOPE:
That gives you and your
son complete control.

If that boy runs the paper,
I wouldn't give it days.

Say, Mr. Mason,

there's something
puzzling me.

Uncle Prentiss
had a wife.

She's dead, but there
was a stepdaughter.

How come she doesn't
pick up the shares?

Under the law,

since Prentiss York
did not survive his brother,

neither he nor
his heirs are eligible

to inherit
from Adam York.

Uh, excuse me, Perry.

But that's what I
came in to tell you.

I'm afraid what you
just said isn't so.

The applicable law is

the Uniform
Simultaneous Death Act,

section of
the Probate Code, Paul.

It's not the law
I'm talking about,
Perry, it's the facts.

Prentiss York
did survive Adam.

They just found
Prentiss York's body.

Mr. Stuart here

didn't find Prentiss
at the same time

he found Adam at
the shore of the river,

because Prentiss, even
though he had a broken leg,

managed to drag himself
more than two miles
away from the river.

He also managed
to light a fire

in the heavy
timber country.

But he d*ed.

And he must have
survived his brother

by at least a day.

This wire from
the Canadian authorities

confirms what
Mr. Drake just said.

In the light
of this information,

the shares of stock
willed to Prentiss York

now become the property
of his legal heir,

Miss Kerry Worden.

(knocking)

Good evening, Kerry.

Seward.

May I come in?

Please do.

Thank you.

An interesting situation.

Joe and his mother
foolishly wanting

to continue on
with the paper.

Ralph and his mother
wanting to sell.

Neither of the opposing groups
able to have its own way.

And now you enter
the picture.

My shares seem
to represent

the balance of power,
so to speak.

Kerry, I won't waste
a lot of your time,

but I would like to ask
you one question.

Exactly how much
is love worth?

That's not a question.

That sounds like an opening
gambit to a proposition.

(chuckles)

If you marry Joe Davies,

it could cost you
a half million dollars.

If I vote my stocks with him.

Could you marry him
and not vote with him?

Joe's an impractical
dreamer--

just like Adam.

In one month that paper
will be bankrupt,

if it isn't already.

Well, a coin usually has
two sides to it.

There's a bona fide offer

of two and a half million
for the paper.

One fifth of that, your share,

would be worth
one-half million dollars.

I really don't want to bother
thinking about it right now.

I have a dinner date
with Joe in about an hour.

Well, maybe you should
bother thinking about it

long enough
to break that date.

Somehow you strike me
as being a girl

who is very good
at arithmetic.

I'm afraid my arithmetic is
a little better than yours.

If I marry Joe--
zero for everybody.

If I vote my stock
against him,

there's a million
for your wife and son,

but only a half million for me.

Seems my decision
is just as important

to the Quentins
as it is to me.

Twice as important.

Well, my dear, perhaps it
shouldn't be twice as important.

Tell me something--

when do you announce
this engagement of yours?

You'll be getting
an invitation soon.

Dear Mother Grace Davies
is giving the engagement party

at the Fairmount Club
a week from Saturday.

That's plenty of time
to add, subtract or divide.

I announce with pride and all
my love and warmest good wishes,

the engagement of my son Joseph

to Miss Kerry Worden.

Just a moment,
Aunt Grace.

You're almost right-- almost.

Well, this is an
engagement party,

but the trouble is,

Kerry isn't getting
engaged to Joe.

She's announcing her
engagement to me right now.

SEWARD:
Well, since this seems
to be a propitious moment

for exploding bombs,
I may as well inform you

that on behalf
of my wife

and my son, I'm requesting

a stockholder's
meeting tomorrow

for the purpose
of approving

the sale
of the Chronicle.

Take it easy, Joe.

You keep out of my sight.

If I ever get my hands
on you, I'll k*ll you.

Tilden, will you take
me home, please?

Isn't the groom-to-be going
to kiss the bride-to-be?

Another double and
keep 'em coming.

Yes, sir.

That's not going
to solve your problem.

No problem left to solve.

Adam lost, I lost--

and you lost, Alison.

The paper's being
sold tomorrow.

And there's nothing you
can do about it, huh?

Short of murdering
a two-timing witch

by the name of
Kerry Worden, no nothing.

You have any ideas?

Here, give him
a bottle.

Adam York was a fighter.

I never saw him wallowing
in self-pity or drunk.

I was wrong about you.

(door rattling)
Kerry, it's me-- Joe!

Open up, you hear me?!

* *

JOE:
Kerry.

She's-- she's dead.

She's dead.

All right.

I'll look into
the Boyd Alison loan--

see where you stand.

I keep thinking,
thinking about last night.

Trying to remember.

Something keeps nagging
at my memory.

What prompted you to go
to her apartment?

Anger?

Jealousy?

Funny-- that's one thing
I do remember.

I guess I was still
boiling mad--

but I wasn't jealous.

I-I was almost--

relieved about not marrying her.

Maybe that's what I wanted
to say to her.

It's worth losing the paper
to be saved from her in time.

Was it worth it?

No, not really.

That would have been
a betrayal of Adam.

Nothing was
worth that.

All right, I'll, uh,
I'll be back tomorrow.

In the meantime, if there's
something you want or need,

just ask them to give me a call.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

What is it?

I remember now--
it was a call.

That's it, I got a call
at the bar.

I remember.

I had no reason
to k*ll Kerry.

Who called you?

She did. Kerry called me
at the bar in the club.

She told me it was going
to be all right.

She wasn't going to vote
her shares with the Quentins.

If Joe Davies wasn't dreaming,
and Kerry Worden did call,

we'll need corroboration.

Check the Fairmount Club.

Also the switchboard

in Kerry Worden's
apartment building.

It might be highly
interesting to know

if she called someone else
that night.

Mm-hmm. As well as who might
have called her and when.

One more thing.

This Derrick Flats
annexation business--

put some men on it.

Find out what's involved.

Do you think the
Chronicle's involvement

in the annexation election

might have something
to do with the m*rder?

The key to the m*rder
must lie in the efforts

to gain control
of the newspaper.

Paul, I want
that information...
Fast.

"And, Paul, don't
spare the expenses.

"If somebody has to pay

"for Paul Drake's
expensive tastes,

it might as well be
Perry Mason."

(all chuckling)

Della.

Mm-hmm.

Send a rush telegram

to each of the stockholders
of the Chronicle.

Include Boyd Alison
in that group.

A telegram informing them that
as voting trustee of the stock,

I'm calling an urgent meeting
at : tonight

in the Chronicle offices.

Prepare a power of attorney
for Joseph Davies,

naming me his proxy
to vote his shares.

I'll want you to get
his signature on it later.

I'll have it ready
in minutes.

Oh, Della.

Yes, Perry?

The wire about the meeting
tonight--

send a copy of it
to the district attorney.

To Hamilton Burger?

Mm-hmm.

And please, make it
five minutes, not .

Mrs. Davies and Tilden Stuart
are waiting for us

at the Chronicle building.

This unincorporated strip
of county here,

made up of abandoned,
worked-out oil fields--

old derricks still standing--

is what is known
as Derrick Flats.

It's a dirty shantytown.

In water, sanitary conditions,
fire hazards,

the whole area
is substandard.

It's an ugly, dangerous eyesore.

The Chronicle supports
annexation.

The election will decide
whether the Flats are annexed

and become part of the city.

And the slums condemned

and new and decent housing
facilities erected.

In addition to a huge new
boat marina right there.

Mr. Stuart, that bond issue,

does it also include
the cost of the marina?

No, the funds for the marina
have already been voted.

If the vote is no
on the annexation,

does that mean
there'll be no marina?

Oh, no, there's still...

Sorry.

Go ahead, Miss Coffey.

Well, you see, the city
had previously optioned

another area
for the marina,

before they picked the
Derrick Flats section.

They could go back
to that first area.

Somebody wins,
somebody loses.

Either way, I have
a strange feeling

there's an awful lot
of money involved.

Obviously enough money
to motivate m*rder.

Not Joe...

I mean Mr. Davies.

He couldn't m*rder anybody.

On that, we agree,
Miss Coffey.

Well, now I think
this does it.

Please, Mr. Mason, is
there anything I can do?

Anything?

As a matter
of fact, there is.

Della, do you have
that power of attorney?

Mm-hmm.

Miss Street and I have
a conference coming up,

so if you'd be kind enough
to get Mr. Davies to sign these,

I'd appreciate it.

I'll take care
of it right away.

Thank you for
all your help.

We'll see you
tonight at : .

Don, I know I had you
on another assignment,

but this is important.

I'd go myself, but
the switchboard girl

at the Worden apartments
knows me by sight.

Is there a good-looking
girl in Los Angeles

that doesn't know
you by sight?

A couple.

Anyway, I sort of stood her up
on a date one night

after I got some information
from her on a divorce case.

So, you are going to
have to do it for me.

Okay, so I have
to do it for you.

Now tell me how.

How? You're asking me how?

Look, buster, that's
what I'm paying you for,

and I'll be waiting
for your call.

Okay, boss.

b*at it.

Hello.

Yes?

Butler - - - - ?

Yes, I'll tell him.
Thank you.

You mean that's really going
to be in the Chronicle?

That photograph of me?

DON:
Yes, front page spread.

Hey, hey, I forgot.

The new city editor's
on today--

a real tough baby.

Won't print pictures

unless there's a good
story to hook 'em to.

Well, you're a reporter,
aren't you?

So think of something.

I got it!

We do a piece on the calls
that went in and out

of the dead girl's
apartment that night.

Nothing to it.

Oh, gee, I don't know
about that.

The cops wouldn't like it.

Well, that's it.

No sense wasting more
pics for nothing.

Sir.

Well, look, the cops
couldn't say anything

if you was to
accidentally

get a look at my
call record book.

Hmm, now could they?

Bonnie Mae,
you're a dream.

All right, big smile.

Big smile again.

Oh, it's you.

Well, now, there's
a sparkling quotation.

Like, "What happened?"

or "What am I doing here?"

Really, Joe.

I'm sorry, Miriam.

They said Mr. Mason's
secretary was here

with some papers to sign.

Where do I do it?

Here, here and here.

Disappointed?

Well, Mr. Mason said that
I could come here if I liked,

instead of his secretary.

She's very attractive,
Miss Street.

So was Kerry Worden.

Remember?

Signed, sealed
and delivered.

Joe, would you really
have married her?

Kerry?

Why do you ask?

Oh, just curious, I suppose.

(sighs)

Oh, who knows for sure?

I... I honestly don't think
I-I could have married her.

Or that I ever loved her.

Any more than she
could ever have married

or loved Ralph Quentin.

Oh, maybe the two of them
deserved each other.

Kerry and Ralph.

Well, there's a match
that wasn't made in heaven.

Are any of
them, Miriam?

I think so, Joe.

Miriam...

I-I better be
going now, Joe.

Good luck.

You just can't get enough
of that stuff, can you?

I like it.

You like it.

I'm sure you do.

Hope, can't we stop this
constant bickering, please?

Please?

Please me
no pleases.

It's too late
for that now.

The two-and-a-half-million-
dollar offer to buy the paper

has been withdrawn.

Thanks to you
and your son.

Good evening.

Good evening,
Mr. Mason.

Uh, may I suggest
that the stockholders

sit around the table?

Uh, if you will, Mr. Alison.

Ms. Coffey, would you
please take notes?

Since the arrest
of Joe Davies for m*rder,

we're faced with
the problem of policy

and continuing management
of the Chronicle.

The problem of continuing
or selling.

I understood you to say the
offer to buy had been withdrawn.

A matter of temporary
misunderstanding.

I can assure you,
there will be no difficulty

in reactivating the offer

and for the two-and-a-half
million-dollar figure.

Selling the paper's
out of the question.

The answer was no before,
it's still no,

it will continue to be no.

At least for the balance
of the days involved

in the loan to the paper

from Mr. Alison.

HOPE:
Loan?

Boyd Alison?

Yes.

A half million dollars
for days,

secured by my shares
and Joseph's shares.

MASON:
In the event of default,

how Mr. Alison votes
is of course his own business.

(chuckles):
Well, then,

we obviously have no problem.

The loan will never be repaid.

In days, the
answer will be no.

But, now, see here,
Mr. Alison...

Save your breath.
I said no.

MASON:
Which, uh, brings
up another matter:

a phone call.

You did tell your mother
about Ms. Worden's call to you,

didn't you, Ralph?

What?

Oh, Kerry's call.

Sure, I told her that
Kerry changed her mi...

Shut up, you drunken--

Shut up!

Thank you for the corroboration.

I knew Ms. Worden called Joe

to tell him she wasn't voting
her stock with you, Ralph.

It didn't take
too much to figure

that she'd also
called you.

(door opens)

Oh, hello, Hamilton.

You, uh, all know the
district attorney, Mr. Burger.

Evening, Perry.
Sit down, won't you?

I believe I've talked to
all these people just recently.

Evening.

Hamilton, if you overheard
some of the conversation,

well, so much for Joe
Davies' motivation,

and I'd say at least
half your case.

(chuckles)

Oh, we knew about Kerry Worden's
two calls to Joe Davies

and to Mr. Quentin here.

And her call to Boyd Alison.

And since we're sharing
information, we now know

about the contents of Kerry
Worden's safe deposit box.

In it was a contract
calling for

the sale of her shares
to Boyd Alison,

signed by Mr. Alison
two days before the m*rder,

but not yet signed
by Kerry.

Mr. Alison,

Joe Davies got two phone calls

at the Fairmount bar
the night of the m*rder:

one from Kerry Worden and one...

And one from me.

The girl told me
she'd called Davies

and that she was ready
to sign my contract.

So I called Davies.

Why?

I intended to own the
paper and run it myself.

I told him that.

Once Kerry Worden signed
that contract, he was out,

once and for all
out, and for good.

That's very interesting,
Mr. Alison.

If you don't mind
following me downtown,

I'd like to get
a full statement from you.

Kerry Worden was
a double-crosser, all right.

But she was
an extremely attractive woman.

And as for your client's motive,

I imagine we'll be
discussing that in court.

Good night.

Mr. Lewis, what time was it
on the night of the m*rder

that you came into the
decedent's apartment?

As close as I can remember,
about : ,

: in the morning.

Mr. Lewis, this poker--
People's exhibit one--

has been established as
the probable m*rder w*apon.

It's further been established
that it had on it

the fingerprints
of the defendant.

Now, I ask you, when
you saw the defendant

standing over the dead body of
your neighbor Kerry Worden,

did you also
see this poker?

Yes. The defendant
Joseph Davies was holding it

in his hand.

BURGER:
Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

And then I struck out alone,
away from the river,

towards the nearest town.

And meanwhile, and
without your knowledge,

Prentiss York--
his leg broken,

suffering from internal
injuries and shock--

managed to crawl some
two miles from the river.

There, although he was able
to build a fire, he d*ed.

Is that correct?

That was the report of
the Canadian authorities, yes.

Now, Mr. Stuart,
you were present

at the reading of
Adam York's will,

when this information about
Prentiss York was made known

and when it was announced that
Prentiss York's stepdaughter,

the decedent Kerry Worden,

was to inherit a substantial
share of the Chronicle?

Yes, I was there.

The day after the reading
of Adam York's will,

did you and the defendant
Joseph Davies lunch together?

Well, yes, we did.

Some accountants from
the newspaper were there.

It was a business meeting.

And during the course of
this business meeting,

did the defendant have the
occasion to express himself

about Kerry Worden's new status
as a shareholder of the paper?

Well, he... he laughed
and said that

it might be smarter to bring
the long engagement to a head

and marry her
before the heiress figured out

it might be more profitable

to vote her stock
with the Quentins.

It was just a joke, no more.

Yes, I'm sure it was.

Thank you.

Thank you,
Mr. Stuart.

Your witness.

No questions.

When I tried to restrain Joe
from attacking my father,

he got furious
and stalked out of the room.

Thank you,
Mr. Quentin.

That'll be all.

Your witness.

So, Kerry Worden was to
marry you, not Joseph Davies.

I take it, you
and the decedent

were in love
with one another.

Why, certainly, of course.

Did you ever
tell her so?

Well, no, not directly.

As a matter of fact,
my father discussed it with her.

MASON:
How did you manage to propose?

In person, by telephone,

by letter?

That was, uh, arranged
by my father.

Are you, uh, sure
Ms. Worden wasn't

getting married
to your father?

(laughter)
BURGER:
Your Honor, I protest.

MASON:
I withdraw the question.

(gavel tapping)

I'm finished
with the witness.

JUDGE:
You may be excused,

Mr. Quentin.

Mrs. Quentin, could you tell us,
please, about this matter

of your son's engagement
to the decedent?

Oh, my husband handled
the entire matter.

It was a straightforward
business deal.

No more, no less.

BURGER:
Mrs. Quentin,
you seem to find it

necessary to sell
the Chronicle.

I have here a copy
of a confidential survey

made of the paper by an
outstanding business analyst.

It seems to confirm what was
well-known in newspaper circles:

that the Chronicle was
badly mismanaged

and verging on bankruptcy.

I wonder if you could
tell us the name

of the business analyst
who made this survey for you.

My husband, Seward Quentin.

BURGER:
Thank you, Mrs. Quentin.

That'll be all.

Yes.

It was on my recommendation

that the stockholders meeting
was requested.

I had arranged
for sale of the paper

to Coast Publishers,
Incorporated,

for two-and-a-half
million dollars.

Before the defendant left
the engagement party room,

did he do or say anything
to the decedent?

Yes.

He turned to Kerry Worden
and he said,

"Keep out of my sight.

If I ever get my hands on you,
I'll k*ll you."

It was after : , and I
told him we had to close up.

And he left.

And then what,
Mr. Young?

Well, Mr. Davies
is a nice guy.

Well, he always
treated me fine.

Well, I was worried about him,

and, well, I went
outside after him.

He didn't take his car,
he-he was just walking.

Well, I-I didn't want to
embarrass him or anything.

BURGER:
Yes, Mr. Young.

Well, he'd had
an awful lot to drink,

and I-I wanted to make sure
he was all right.

So I followed him.

BURGER:
You followed the defendant?

Where to?

Kerry Worden's apartment house.

I saw him go in.

BURGER:
And then what?

YOUNG:
Well, after what happened at
the club and the way Joe was--

well, Mr. Davies
was feeling, I...

well, I was a little worried.

Worried? About what?

Ms. Worden's safety, I guess.

BURGER:
I see.

YOUNG:
Anyway, there was an all-night
drugstore at the corner,

and I, well, I figured I ought
to call her and say something.

Now, wait a
minute, Mr. Young.

What time was it when
you saw the defendant

go into the
apartment house?

: in the morning.

BURGER:
Are you sure of that?

YOUNG:
Well, I looked at my watch,

uh, worrying if it was
too late to call her.

But you did
decide to call?

Yes. I looked up
her number at the drugstore.

Then I called her.

And did she answer?

Well, no, not exactly.

The line was busy.

The line was busy?

What time was this?

Couple of minutes after : .

Now, at : , you
saw the defendant

go into the apartment
house of the decedent.

At : or three, you phoned
her and the line was busy.

And at : , her
neighbor saw her

lying there dead,
with the defendant

standing over her with the
bloody poker still in his hand.

Thank you,
Mr. Young.

Your witness,
Mr. Mason.

JUDGE:
One moment, Mr. Mason.

We've gone well beyond

the hour for recess.

You may cross-examine
after lunch.

Court is recessed
until : p.m.

What about
lunch, Perry?

No lunch today.
I've got to make a phone call.

Paul, I want you
to take the hospital

and the newspaper morgue.

Della, you get to the bank.

Hospital, newspaper
morgue, bank--

what are we on, some
kind of a treasure hunt?

No, an answer hunt.

The answer to
who k*lled Kerry Worden.

All right, Mr. Mason, proceed
with your cross-examination.

Now, Mr. Young, you
testified that at :

on the morning
of the m*rder

you tried to telephone
Miss Worden.

When you called,
you got a busy signal.

Is that right?
Yes, sir.

I'm interested in trying
to reconstruct the state

of your mind at the
time in question

because I think it's pertinent.

Now, when you called,
the line was busy.

Do you remember what your
reaction was to the busy signal,

what you thought?

She was using it,
talking to somebody, I guess.

That's a logical guess.

Now I show you
people's exhibit three,

the police photograph
taken of the room

in which the m*rder
occurred.

Whoa, looks like there must
have been quite a fight.

Chairs, lamps knocked over.

Place in a mess.

And here,
what do you see here?

Well, it's a telephone.

Well, it's disconnected.

The base is on the table,

the receiver's hanging down
to the floor.

Is that what you mean?

Yes, it is.

Now, Mr. Young, in your own
personal experience,

if you were to call a number
and, uh, the telephone had

been similarly disconnected,
what would happen?

I'd get a busy signal.

Didn't this explanation
occur to you at the time?

That when you called, the
telephone might have been

disconnected in a struggle,
oh, let us say hours before,

and yet you still would
have gotten a...?

A busy signal.

No, no, it didn't occur
to me at that time,

but it does now.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

I have no further
questions, Mr. Burger.

Well, I have another question,
Your Honor...

on redirect.

Since Mr. Mason
has been probing

the state of your
mind, Mr. Young,

I have a question.

You phoned that
apartment at : .

Now if, if the struggle
which knocked

the phone off the hook
took place at : --

which seems most likely--

why would the line
have been busy

when you called
earlier at : ?

Because she was using it.

That's correct.

Thank you, Mr. Young.
No more questions.

Any more questions, Mr. Mason?

I think we've demonstrated
that the question is

not if she was
using the phone,

but rather when the
struggle took place

or, more importantly, when
the m*rder took place.

No, I have no
further questions.

JUDGE:
You may step down,
Mr. Young.

I call Mr. Boyd Alison
to the stand.

I would have controlled
the paper, Mr. Burger.

That always was and is
my intention--

to own and publish
the Chronicle myself.

That's exactly what I told
Joe Davies on thephone

the night of the m*rder.

So the defendant knew
that if Kerry Worden went

through with her
deal with you,

he could kiss
the paper good-bye.

I made that unmistakably clear.

Now, on the night
of the m*rder, Mr. Alison,

you saw the defendant
personally.

Was that at
the Fairmount Club bar?

Yes, after the so-called
engagement party.

Davies had begun
drinking heavily.

I asked him was there
nothing he could do

about losing control
of the paper.

And what did the defendant
say to that?

Joe Davies said that short
of murdering Kerry Worden,

there wasn't anything
he could do.

Thank you, Mr. Alison,
that'll be all.

Your witness.

Uh, Your Honor,
may we have a moment

to prepare an exhibit?

You may, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Alison, you say you want

to own and publish
the Chronicle?

Quite an undertaking
without previous experience

in the newspaper field.

Or do you already own
a newspaper?

I own no papers.

The Derrick Flats Shopping News

and the Derrick Flats
Independent,

two newspapers.

Throwaways, I grant
you, but newspapers.

Do you own them, Mr. Alison?

No, not directly.

Not directly?

Both papers are owned
by Coast Publishers.

Coast Publishers is owned

by the D.F. Industrial
Corporation.

D.F. Industrial is owned
by Enterprises, Ltd.

Now Mr. Alison, who owns
% of the stock

of Enterprises, Ltd?

I do.

I ask you once again,
do you own a newspaper?

Yes.

Coast Publishers is the company
Seward Quentin testified

made a two-and-a-half-million-
dollar offer

to buy the Chronicle.

That offer, Mr. Alison,
came from you, did it not?

It did.

Why did you subsequently
withdraw it?

I found I could get
the paper for less

by way of the loan to Davies

and the purchase
of Miss Worden's stock.

As for the Quentins,
they were so hungry,

I knew I could pick up
their stock, too, in time

for very little cash.

At no time did you support
either Adam York

or his policies.

From the beginning,
you were opposed

to the Derrick Flats
annexation

and the paper's support
of that annexation,

were you not?
I don't know
what you're talking about.

The All Service Company
owning over %

of the Derrick Flats
slum property.

And among other things,
operating rental offices,

rubbish and garbage
collection services.

All Service Company,
D.F. Industrial Corporation,

Enterprises, Ltd.

Mr. Boyd Alison,
and a total net profit

of better
than $ million a year.

What are you getting at?

If annexation was defeated,

and the city purchased
the alternate land, what then?

Every single foot
of every single acre

of that alternate marina site
is owned by two companies:

Souther Developers
and Management Associates.

Two companies
owned by

Advance Land Corporation.

Owned in turn
by Enterprises, Ltd.

Back again to Mr. Boyd Alison.

Tell me, Mr. Alison, you

were not opposed
to annexation?

All right!

All right,
you've dug it all up.

But nothing you've said suggests
that I k*lled Kerry Worden.

Kerry Worden called
Joe Davies,

she called Ralph Quentin
and she called you.

Now exactly what did this rather
double-dealing lady have

to say to you that might
have upset your apple cart?

That she was gonna change
your mind again?
No.

That she wasn't gonna go through
her deal with you?

No.

That you would lose
control of the paper,

and losing that control,

your hope of defeating
the annexation?

No, no, no!

Your Honor, I object.

Defense counsel is

deliberately...
One moment, Mr. Burger.

You opened the door to all of
this on direct examination.

Yes, but, Your Honor...

Objection overruled.

Proceed, Mr. Mason.

Your Honor, at this time,

I would like to recall
Tilden Stuart.

JUDGE:
You may step down, Mr. Alison.

Now Mr. Stuart,

on the night
of the m*rder,

it was you who brought
Miss Worden, the decedent,

to the engagement party.

This is very
important, Mr. Stuart.

On the way to that party,
did Kerry Worden intimate

that she might change her mind
and sell her stock

to Boyd Alison?

Well, she may have talked
about her stock

that night, Mr. Mason.

I-I'm sorry,
I just can't remember.

That's very disappointing.

However, you might be able
to help us in another matter.

How much do you remember

about the Advance Land
Corporation?

The Advance...
Land Corporation?

You purchased , shares
of stock in that corporation.

You also purchased an option

for an additional , shares
at $ , .

You might have become
a millionaire overnight

if the city bought that land

for a marina.

Now, you liquidated
all your assets

to buy that first
block of stock.

Where, Mr. Stuart, were
you going to get the money

for the second
block of stock?

Please, Mr. Mason, I was...

Now, when you were on the boat
with Adam and Prentiss York

and the boat overturned,

was it then, Mr. Stuart,

when you pulled both
bodies to the shore,

was it then you figured
out where you could
get the money?

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

MASON:
The Prentiss York autopsy
findings were uncertain

as to the cause of death.

Since he'd been found
two miles from the river,

and since it was assumed
that he must have got there

under his own power,

shock, exposure and internal
injuries were listed

as the probable
cause of death.

Now...

look at this photograph,
Mr. Stuart.

It's a photograph
of Prentiss York

where they found him dead.

Now here is an enlargement
of part of that photograph.

Will you please tell us
what you see in it?

It's a leg.

Prentiss York's broken leg.

Do you notice anything unusual

about the shoe
on that leg?

No, nothing unusual.

It's unscuffed.

Prentiss York crawled two
miles over rocky ground

dragging a broken
leg behind him,

yet the shoe on that leg
remained unscuffed.

Take a look at
this, Mr. Stuart--

the hands he used
to drag himself

two miles over rocky ground.

Yet they're hands
without a mark,

without a scratch.

Both men were k*lled
in the rapids

by being smashed
against the rocks,

yet Prentiss York had no marks
on his legs or shoes

because you carried a dead man
two miles to establish the lie

that somehow Prentiss York
survived his brother.

Now why?

Why?

According to hospital records,

your first call,
the very first call you made

after reaching civilization
was to Kerry Worden,

and Kerry Worden was your first
visitor at the hospital.

Again, why?

I knew Kerry Worden.

I knew her greed.

And we made a deal.

I would set her up as Adam's
heir through Prentiss York.

And then we would split
the money from the sale

of the newspaper
by the Quentins.

The night you brought her
to the party,

did she tell you about her deal
with Boyd Alison?

Yes.

She found out
about my investment

and the alternate marina land
and refused to split with me.

In fact, she threatened
to expose me

if I didn't split my share
with her.

So you k*lled her?

I went to see her after I took
Mrs. Davies home.

I, I wanted to talk to her.

I had to talk to her.

We... There was an argument,

I picked up
the poker and I,

I couldn't let her sell
to Alison.

I couldn't let her
tell people about me!

I needed time!

(voice breaking):
I... I needed time!

Time to get the money together,
time to pick up the option!

I was, I was desperate
for time!

(voice breaking):
Just, just a little time!

(sobs)

At the very moment Stuart
k*lled Miss Worden,

he heard Joe at the door.

He put out the lights and hid.

And you,
my young friend,

when you smashed
your way in and fell,

Stuart ran out.

He reached the stairs
and was gone from sight

by the time
Mr. Lewis arrived.

Found me with a poker
in my hand.

And egg all
over your face.

That's what you get
for being in love

with the wrong girl.

And who, Miss Coffey,
is the right girl?

(intercom buzzes)

Yes?

Late election returns.

Annexation winning
in a walkaway.

Oh!

Well, with Boyd Alison
indicted by the grand jury

and every civic
group behind you,

it should almost
be unanimous.

MASON: I, uh, hate
to inject an unhappy note,

but there is the matter
of the Chronicle

and a rather
substantial loan.

Didn't Joe tell you,
Mr. Mason?

Our advertising's
doubled,

our circulation's
gone into orbit.

We have enough contracts
to pay that loan off twice.

The girl positively amazes me.

It's never-ending enthusiasm.

What am I gonna do with her?

I, um, have a feeling
you'll think of something.

(chuckles)

(theme music plays)