07x04 - The Case of the Deadly Verdict

[bunniefuu]

(theme song playing)

MAN:
Excuse me?

The lights, do they mean
the jury is returning?

Yes, sir.

Oh, Mr. Mason.

Do you know what they're...

they're going
to do to my sister?

Why, no, Mrs. Nevins.

Not even the judge knows
that yet.

(door opens)

BAILIFF:
All rise.

Be seated, please.

Now that all members
of the jury are present,

as well as defendant
and counsel.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

have you agreed upon a verdict?

Yes, we have, Your Honor.

You'll hand it
to the bailiff, please.

In the Superior Court
of the State of California,

in and for
the County of Los Angeles,

number CR .

The People of the State
of California, plaintiff,

v. Janice Barton, defendant.

Verdict.

We, the jury in the
above entitled cause,

fix the punishment as death

for the crime of m*rder,

as charged in the indictment
dated August .

Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

was this and is this
your verdict?

You wish to have
the jury polled, Mr. Mason?

No, Your Honor,
that won't be necessary.

DRAKE:
Miss?

More coffee, please?

No, thank you.

You mustn't
blame yourself, Perry.

You did everything
that could be done.

I should never have allowed her
to take the stand.

And how could you know she lied
about where she was

at the time of the m*rder,
and that Burger would trap her?

And doesn't her lying
pretty well prove she's guilty?

DRAKE: Well, don't tell me you
still think she's innocent.

She says she is.

Yeah, and she still uses
the same alibi,

which has been
completely demolished.

Perry, I'm gonna have
to go along with Della.

$ , willed
to Janice by an aunt

who might have lived
another ten or years--

people have k*lled for far less.

Mrs. Nevins, Dr. Nevins,
you remember my secretary,

- Miss Street, of course.
- Hello.

And Mr. Paul Drake,
private investigator.

We've met Mr. Drake.

Mr. Burger told us
we might find you here.

You talked with him then?

He says, in his estimation,
justice has been done.

But it hasn't, Mr. Mason.

Janice never
k*lled Aunt Amanda, never.

When I think of what
my sister's gone through,

what she still has
to go through.

Paulette...

I'm sorry.

Now, I'm sure that Mr. Mason

feels as badly as we do,

but the problem is,

what do we do now?

Well, there are a number
of legal moves left, Dr. Nevins.

Motion for a new trial,
a motion to reduce,

a*t*matic appeal
to the State Supreme Court.

But if all these fail,
what then?

I told you, Paulette.

It'll never be the gas chamber.

The chances in California
against a woman

going to the gas chamber
are a thousand to one.

But women have been ex*cuted.

What about continuing

the search for new evidence?

DRAKE:
Doctor,

for over three months,

my men and I have checked and
rechecked every possible lead,

every possible angle,
every possible possibility.

If you want to spend the money,
we'll keep on working,

but I can't guarantee anything

or even hold out
a whisper of hope.

Which means,
it appears Janice's fate

is in your hands alone,
Mr. Mason.

Yes.

No, Mr. Mason isn't here
right now.

No, I'm sorry,
I don't know where he is.

In fact, I'm trying
to locate him myself.

Yes, I'll tell him.

Right. Thank you.

(phone buzzes)

Yes, Gertie?

The Barton sisters?

(scoffs)

Well, if they insist.

(sighs)

Miss Simmons, Miss Ames.

Hello.

We were hoping Mr. Mason
would be here, Miss Street,

but perhaps you can help us.

I'll certainly try.

Would you care to sit down?

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Now, first,
possibly you can tell us

why Mr. Mason didn't save Janice
from that awful verdict

by forcing her to plead guilty?

Well, he certainly
couldn't force her

to do something that she didn't
want to do, Mrs. Simmons.

What do you care anyway, Lettie?

You've said all along
she did it.

I am thinking of the disgrace
to the family, Violet,

having a cousin
go to the gas chamber.

Is that it, darling?

Or is it that you're afraid
you won't be re-elected

President
of the Women's Club Federation.

You don't feel disgraced?

Just the opposite.

Being related
to a convicted murderess

will give my acting career
just the boost it needs.

As a matter of fact,

I'm thinking of changing
my name back to Violet Barton.

You're impossible.

Oh, so are you, dear sister,

flitting around the bush
like a cast-iron butterfly.

What we really came for is to
find out when we get our money.

Your money?

Yes, from our dear
aunt's estate.

We've been informed,
Miss Street,

that Janice's conviction
invalidates Amanda's will

and disqualifies her
from inheriting anything.

Which leaves
four nearest of kin,

Lettie and me,

and our brother in South
America, Dr. Andrew Barton.

Plus, Janice's sister Paulette.

That is at least ,
a piece.

Oh, I-I'm sorry,

I-I really don't know anything
about all this.

You'll have to speak
to Mr. Mason.

Oh, I'd love that.

Will Mr. Mason be in today?

I certainly hope so.

- Tell him to call us.
Mm-hmm.

And tell him to have
the money ready, too, dear.

Nice, freshly laundered
thousand-dollar bills,

if he can arrange it.

What did the,
uh, Barton sisters want?

To see Perry
about the Amanda Barton estate.

This isn't like him, Paul,
not keeping in touch.

Where do you suppose
he could be?

♪♪

BURGER:
Bottle, bottle, bottle,

where was the bottle?

WOMAN: / put the medicine bottle
on the stand by her bed,

along with her glass
and her water carafe.

BURGER:
And now, Miss Green,

please tell the jury
was this the same bottle

that came from the pharmacy
that morning?

GREEN:
Yes, in the mail.

BURGER:
And you opened it?

GREEN:
No, sir, I did not open it.

Miss Janice always gave
her aunt her medicine.

TRAGG:
Latent fingerprints were found

on the glass
and the water carafe.

BURGER:
Were you able to identify

these fingerprints,
Lieutenant Tragg?

TRAGG: Yes, they were those
of the defendant,

Janice Barton.

ANDERSON: Laboratory analysis
of the dregs in the glass

showed the presence of a drug

absent from the contents
of the medicine bottle.

BURGER: And what was this drug,
Lieutenant Anderson?

ANDERSON:
Chlorohydrate,

often referred to
as knockout drops.

DOCTOR: Analysis
of the stomach contents

of the deceased performed
as part of the autopsy

showed a partially-ingested
concentration of chlorohydrate.

BURGER: What, in your opinion,
Dr. Hoxie,

would result from such
a concentration?

HOXIE:
Total unconsciousness.

BURGER: And so, after having
surreptitiously added

knockout drops
to the glass of medicine,

which, on her own admission,

she administered to her aunt
that evening,

the defendant returned to
the house some two hours later,

lifted the frail, drugged body

of the elderly woman
from her bed,

carried her across the room

and through the French doors,

onto the balcony,

and there, on the balcony,

cloaked by darkness,

she pressed the inert body
against the ancient guardrail,

causing the rail to break

and the body to begin
it’s sickening,

headlong fatal fall

to the brick patio below.

MAN:
Mr. Mason?

I'm sorry,
I don't mean to intrude,

but Miss Green told me
you were here.

I-I thought possibly there was
something I could do for you.

Well, thank you, Mr. Barton,

but I am just reviewing,
so to speak.

Shocking,
the verdict last night.

I had hoped for something
less drastic,

especially as I feel
partially responsible.

In what way, Mr. Barton?

It was I, as Aunt Amanda's
business advisor,

who suggested that she leave the
bulk of her estate to Janice.

Yes, I know; you testified
to that at the trial.

Quite true.

But what I didn't testify to
is my feeling of guilt.

If I hadn't arranged
for a new will,

Janice would've had no motive.

You shouldn't feel guilty.

You were only trying
to help her.

True again.

But I certainly
should have remembered

that awful scandal in Rome.

Scandal?

Janice had an Italian lover.

He fell from a balcony, too.

Accidental,
the police finally decided.

But now I wonder.

She may have k*lled twice--
is that what you believe?

Oh, no, Mr. Mason.

Wonder more accurately describes
my state of mind.

I don't really know
what to believe.

Well, I do.

From the moment she came
to live with Miss Amanda,

I knew she was up to no good.

But it was Amanda's idea,
Miss Green, that she stay here.

A bird with a snake.

That's how Miss Amanda
was with her,

hypnotized under an evil spell.

(laughing):
Oh, come now.

Janice cast no evil spells.

All her life
she cast evil spells.

What about the Italian man
you just mentioned?

And her poor sister?

Paulette, crippled for life

through her crazy,
reckless driving.

An accident.

Was it an accident
that put the drug in the glass?

An accident that broke
that railing out there?

An accident that I saw her
running from the house,

right after Miss Amanda's fall?

And why did she lie
about where she was,

Mr. Mason, if she isn't evil?

Evil.

Evil!

Sure, I know
I'm the one that nailed her.

And don't think I'm happy.

But it was, tell the truth,
or get judged as a...

(groaning):
...an accessory.

(grunts)

And how could I do
my daily workout in jail?

(sighs)

How?

(panting)

The thing is,
you lied at first, Mr. Jacks.

Are you positive
you're telling the truth now?

Yes, sir,
like I was on the stand.

She come into the bar
around : that night,

not at : ,
like she had me say.

I should have guessed something
was wrong then,

her ordering two brandys,

instead of the beer
and sandwiches,

like she always had,

and her face...

pale, like she had seen a ghost.

And I guess she had.

I know we've been
through this before,

but do you have
any recollection at all

of her saying anything unusual?

Not until the next day

when she came with the money.

$ for saying :

instead of : .

"And more to come later.”

That's what
made me lie at first,

the "more to come later.”

Your "at first,” Mr. Jacks,

was two-thirds of the way
through the trial.

Why that late?

An attack of conscience,
you told us on the stand.

What caused it?

Money from someone else?

Oh, no.

It was, uh...
It was, uh...

Was what?

It was
that police lieutenant Tragg,

finding that
where I hid it in my room.

You didn't mention that
on the stand.

No, sir.

Mr. Burger said
I didn't have to.

Thus making you a belatedly
conscience-stricken citizen,

instead of a trapped liar.

Those are pretty harsh words,
Mr. Mason.

But what she did

was about a million times worse.

(grunts)

If it was a fair trial,

how is it I was found guilty
when I didn't k*ll my aunt?

One reason,
perhaps the main reason,

was that you lied
about where you were, Janice.

You lied to the police,
you lied to me,

you lied on the stand until
Hamilton Burger caught you.

Won't you tell me now

where you really were
at : that night?

The bartender lied.
I was there in his bar at : .

Why did you find it
necessary, then,

to give him money the next day?

To be sure he'd remember.

I knew I was in trouble.

Miss Green lying about seeing me
run out of the house

after Aunt Amanda's fall.

I find it very hard to believe

that both Miss Green
and the bartender lied.

In other words,
you think I'm guilty, too.

I think you're hiding something,

something that might conceivably
help keep you from...

From going to the gas chamber,
Mr. Mason?

You can spare me the melodrama.

You know as well as I do,
it'll never come to that.

It couldn't possibly.

Well, it just couldn't. You...

You know it couldn't!

The motion
for a new trial is denied.

Motion to reduce is denied.

Arraign the defendant
for judgment.

Janice Barton,

in an indictment filed
in this court on August,

you were charged
with the crime of m*rder,

in violation of Section
of the penal code.

You were tried by a jury
of persons,

and on November,
you were found guilty.

On November, after
further trial, this jury found

you are not insane at the time
of the commission of this crime,

and on November,
fixed the punishment as death.

Have you any legal cause to show

why judgment should not
be pronounced at this time?

No legal cause outside
the legal cause set forth

in our motions here
this morning.

JUDGE:
Very well.

It is ordered,
judged and decreed

that in accordance
with the verdict of the jury

fixing the punishment as death,

that the defendant,
Janice Barton,

shall suffer
the penalty of death

in the manner prescribed by law.

And it is further decreed
that this sentence be stayed

until determination of
the defendant's a*t*matic appeal

to the Supreme Court
of the State of California.

Perry!

(door closes)

Have you been here all night?

- Hi, beautiful.
- Hi, Paul.

I'm gonna fix you some coffee,
and then you're going home.

No luck at all?

No.

I've been through the transcript
again and again.

Completely fair trial,
no miscarriage of justice

on the basis
of the evidence presented.

A perfectly justifiable verdict.

(Mason groans)

How much time have you got to
work on the Supreme Court brief?

days.

But what are my arguments, Paul?

On what do I base the brief?

I sure wouldn't know.

Uh, what's all this?

MASON:
The only other angle of attack.

The nearest of kin,
all of whom Janice accepted,

and are now in line to inherit.

Well, what about
Christopher Barton?

No.

Only through his father.

Dr. Andrew Barton
inherits first.

Four possibilities.

Four, Paul.

But all, unfortunately,
with rather weak motives.

Weak?

By my reckoning, a quarter
of Amanda's half-million estate

is well over $ , .

The will, Paul,
left $ , to each of them,

another , to Emily Green,

and the remainder to Janice.

With Janice out,

each relative would gain
about $ , .

Now is that worth the risk
of murdering someone,

being caught, losing it all?

No, it wouldn't seem so.

And motive or not, you've got
to rule out Dr. Andrew Barton.

He must have been halfway up
the Amazon at the time,

on the way back
to that jungle medical mission.

So, that leaves us
three possibilities.

Violet,
driving home at : that night

from a late-sh**ting TV show.

Letitia, home alone.

And Paulette,
who, of course, is out,

since she's unable to walk.

But she is able to walk Paul.

Part of her treatment is
a weekly injection of Novocain,

which deadens the pain enough

for her to move around
for a while.

-(door opens)
- So, that night,

she could have
injected herself.

(door closes)

In here, Mr. Barton.

Mr. Mason,
something rather bizarre:

A cablegram from my father.

I thought I'd better
trot it over in person.

"Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

"Newspaper accounts
early part of Janice trial.

"Just arrive camp.

"Medicine not what I prescribed
Amanda before leaving.

"Sending native runner
nearest cable office,

"in case authorities interested.

Love, Father.”

"Medicine not
what I prescribed"?

What difference would that make?

I haven't the foggiest idea.

How can I get in touch
with your father, Mr. Barton?

Uh, cable and native runner
would be the quickest way.

The Indians he's working with
live deep in the jungle.

Della, when is Janice
being transferred to Corona?

This morning
right after breakfast.

Let's go, Paul.

Janice?

Sorry. No speaking
to prisoners in transit.

It's all right, Matron.
I'm her attorney.

- This will only take a moment.
- All right.

Janice, I'm gonna ask you
about Dr. Barton.

Now, he was your aunt's
physician, wasn't he?

She would never listen
to anybody else,

even though he was in Brazil
most of the time.

Before he went back,
after his last visit,

did he prescribe for her?

He changed her medicine,
if that's what you mean.

About a week before he left.

Did you know
about the change at the time?

Did Emily Green
and your aunt know about it?

Yes, we all knew,
all of us in the house.

So the medicine that came
from the pharmacy that day

would have been
the new prescription,

if any of you had ordered it.

Naturally.

It wasn't, Janice.

But what prescription
was it, then?

That we'll have to find out.

Mr. Mason, does that...

does that mean that...
that there's hope?

Janice, there'd be
a great deal more hope

if you'd tell me where
you really were that night.

JANICE:
I can't.

I've already told you. I've...

I've told you.

Paul, do you remember
when you said

that you'd investigated
every possible possibility?

Yeah.

Well, there's one more.

DRAKE:
Brazil?

(birds singing)

(speaking Spanish)

I sure hope
you're saying, "journey's end.”

Anybody in there?

Well, howdy, stranger.

Welcome to Nowheresville.

Oh, is this, uh,
Gevarro Medical Mission?

One part of it, at least.

I'm Dr. Faulkner, pediatrics.

How do you? I'm Paul Drake.

I'm looking
for Dr. Andrew Barton.

Dr. Barton?

DRAKE:
Yes.

This way.

He knew he was dying
when he came out here

on this last trip, Mr. Drake.

And his request was
that he be buried close

to the Indians
he worked for and loved.

I don't understand what good

Dr. Barton would have
done you, Perry,

even if Drake
had found him alive.

Well, he could have come back,

or at least ex*cuted
an affidavit

stating that he told everyone
in Amanda Barton's household

about the new prescription.

Hmm. Thus proving what?

That someone outside the
household ordered the medicine.

(Burger laughs)

Well, Lieutenant Tragg?

Like you, Perry,
we've done considerable checking

the, uh, last few weeks.

Yes, when we first heard
about the wrong medicine cable,

I went down
to the pharmacist myself

and showed him the bottle
we found beside the bed,

and our lab analysis
of its contents.

BURGER:
Go on, Lieutenant.

Oh, he checked his records
and found it was Dr. Barton's

previous prescription
for Amanda Barton.

He'd made a mistake?

No, Doctor, not possibly.

As you know, prescription refill
orders are taken by number,

and the two prescription numbers
are totally different.

TRAGG: And so that brings up
some questions.

Who ordered the old medicine?

And when? And how?

And, uh, we have
the answers for those, too.

The "how" was by phone.

The "when" was the day
before the m*rder,

since the medicine was mailed,
not picked up.

As for the "who"...

unknown.

Dr. Nevins, can just anyone
phone a drugstore

and order a prescription
refilled?

Yes.

Provided he or she knows
the name and the number,

that it's a refillable
prescription,

and it isn't a narcotic.

Well, neither
of the prescriptions

involved in this case
are narcotics.

Oh, no, no, both
are mild sedatives,

with an addition
to the new prescription

of digitin for the heart,
and a chemical muscle relaxant.

I see.

All right, Perry,
what else did you find out?

Nothing.

Well, then,
where does that leave us?

Supposing the wrong medicine
was delivered through the mail,

it wasn't lethal,

it just didn't have
the new ingredients

that Dr. Barton had prescribed.

The point is, Hamilton,

it should never have been there.

The point is, Perry,
that the chlorohydrate

should never have been
in the glass beside it.

Or in the stomach
of Amanda Barton.

Furthermore, has it occurred
to you that Amanda Barton

might have phoned in that
prescription herself,

and being old and forgetful,
simply gave them

the wrong prescription number?

Has that possibility
occurred to you?

Yes, that has occurred to me.

Well, then, let me say this:
If you find out who called,

we'll look into it.

In the meantime,

this is gonna be submitted

to the attorney general.

What is that, Mr. Burger?

This is the People's brief

to be submitted
to the Supreme Court, Doctor,

urging that the death penalty

for Janice Barton be upheld.

(door opens)

Janice?

Yes.

Your attorney's here to see you.

Mr. Mason?

That's right.

Oh, you have to come right now.

There's no time
for you to pretty up.

I don't mind.

What is it, Mr. Mason?

The medicine? Have you finally
found out who it came from?

No, Janice.

After all these weeks,
that's still a complete mystery.

Oh.

But you, you do have news?

Of a sort.
Here, sit down.

This afternoon
I presented my oral argument

to the Supreme Court
in Sacramento.

And the Court's decision?

That will be announced,
most likely, sometime next week.

Doubtless affirming
that the defendant,

Janice Barton,
suffer the penalty of death.

In the manner prescribed by law.

Janice...

Janice, do you want to die?

Well, it's something
that happens to everybody

sooner or later.

You testified that...

when you left the house,

after giving your aunt
her medicine that night,

you intended to go,
as you often did,

to the family beach house
near Malibu.

I, I always liked to walk

on the beach at night,
but not that night.

No, I, I never got there.

I think you did.

No, I stopped for a drink,
instead at : ,

just as I told you.

At : ,

looking as though you'd seen
a ghost and asking for brandy.

Now why did you need brandy?

Because of something
you saw, wasn't it?

Something you saw
at the beach house?

No.

Janice, who was there?

What happened there?

Why are you risking your life
to keep it a secret?

(sobs):
I, I can't tell you.

I can't tell you.

Why?

Because ll...

I've hurt
too many people already.

Paulette, crippled for life.

She begged me to slow down,
to drive more carefully.

I just laughed.

Antonio.

The Rome police

decided it was an accident,

but I drove him
off that balcony,

telling him he wasn't a man,
but a gigolo.

And now Amanda,

who took me in
when I needed help,

dead too, because of me.

No, Mr. Mason, I'll never tell.

Even if it means
going to the gas chamber?

Even if it means that.

Good-bye, Mr. Mason.

DR. NEVINS: But can't remember
where I was at the exact time

of Amanda's death.

After all,

it was nearly a year ago,
wasn't it?

Don't tell me I need
an alibi at this late date?

No, but Janice does,
desperately.

Tell me, Doctor,

were you at any time that night

at the Barton beach house?

No.

Odd that you can't remember
where you were,

but that you can remember
where you were not.

What if I told you
that Janice saw you there?

Well, I would say she didn't.

Knowing that your saying so
might cause her death.

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

But you were there,
weren't you, Doctor?

-(mechanical whirring)
- PAULETTE: Were you, Charles?

Were you at the beach house?

There was lipstick
on your shirt that night.

I should've guessed
it was Janice's.

No, Paulette, it wasn't.

Now I can see
why she didn't tell.

Not after what
she'd already done to me.

But you, Charles,
why did you stay silent?

It's her life against my pride.

(electronic buzzing)

Yes, Doctor?

Now, Elizabeth,

I want you to tell us
where you were

the night Amanda Barton died.

Dr. Nevins?

DR. NEVINS: Elizabeth, now,
please, please.

This is very important.

I was with you.

Elizabeth called me
at about :

that night from a bar in Malibu,

highly distraught,

almost incoherent,

because she was
going to drown herself.

Now, I raced out to the bar,

got her out of there,

and took her to the beach house.

Why?

Why were you
going to drown yourself?

Because I was going to have
a baby, Mrs. Nevins.

The father was a boy

who's decided

he wasn't ready to marry yet.

Two hours of tears
and hysterics,

with my trying to comfort her.

Now that,

that's what Janice must've
seen and misinterpreted.

And Janice lied on the stand
because she...

Because she thought
if she told the truth,

she'd destroy your marriage.

(sighs)

Oh, I know she blames herself
for what happened to me,

but to risk her life.

She is still risking her life,
Mrs. Nevins.

But now you can save her.

Did either of you
see Janice that night?

No.

Well, don't you think we
would've stepped forward

and said so if we had?

You were there how long?

From just before :

until nearly midnight.

Two hours.

Which means, I'm afraid,
this doesn't help at all.

But why, Mr. Mason?

Well, even if Janice
altered her story,

said that she was
at the beach house

at the time of her aunt's death,
she couldn't prove it.

Not without witnesses.

I could say that I saw her.

No, Doctor, you couldn't.

You see, Miss Green,

someone could have
opened the mailbox

without having
been seen from the house.

But nobody did.

I picked up the mail
that day, as always.

"As always" meaning noon,

a half hour or so after
the postman's truck had passed.

No reason to walk down earlier
just to find he hadn't come.

No, no reason.

What's this all about,
Mr. Mason?

A medicine bottle.

Which I brought in
with the rest of the mail

and put on the bedside table,
as I've said a dozen times.

Yes, I know.

Well, I know all this hocus-
pocus will get you nowhere.

She k*lled her aunt
and she's gonna pay for it.

Janice didn't k*ll her aunt,
Miss Green,

and if she pays for it,
as you put it,

the blame will be largely yours.

Mine?
I only told what I saw.

You saw a woman
in high-heeled shoes,

wearing a raincoat
with a hood on it,

running from the house.

It was Miss Janice.

So you kept testifying,

but was it Janice?

Or was your vision warped
by jealousy and hatred?

Now, Miss Green,
if you don't mind,

our guests will be
arriving shortly.

I'm convinced,
and so are Dr. and Mrs. Nevins,

that Janice is innocent.

It's true she lied
about where she was

at the time her aunt died,

but we how know where
she was and why she lied.

Unfortunately,
proving that in court

is quite a different matter.

Why are you telling us
all this, Mr. Mason?

I'll come to that, Mrs. Simmons,

after I show you
how the m*rder was committed.

Committed, incidentally,
to get rid of two persons:

Amanda Barton and Janice.

(all talking at once)

MASON: Well, suppose
we follow the crime

from its inception.

Now...

shortly before Dr. Barton

changed Amanda Barton's
medicine,

the m*rder*r
went to the pharmacy,

had Amanda's old prescription
refilled,

paid in cash,
and took it away.

But how is that possible,

ordering and getting
somebody else's medicine?

Oh, my maid does that
all the time, Christopher.

Uh-oh, I may be
incriminating myself.

You are, if you'd
k*lled your aunt, Miss Ames.

I only m*rder on the stage,
Mr. Mason.

Once in possession
of the bottle,

the m*rder added to it
the chlorohydrate.

And the day
before Amanda's death,

the m*rder*r ordered
by phone another bottle

from the pharmacy,

still using
the old prescription number.

This bottle came in the mail
the morning of the m*rder,

and in its place in the package,

the k*ller substituted
the bottle

with the knockout drops.

Where was this done, Mr. Mason?

At the mailbox.

It can't be seen
from the house.

Miss Green never
picks up the mail

until a half hour
or so after delivery.

When she did
pick it up that morning,

she opened the resealed package,

put the drug bottle on Amanda
Barton's bedside table.

But the bottle found there
didn't contain chlorohydrate.

Because it wasn't
the same bottle.

After Amanda
was dead that night,

the m*rder*r pocketed
the drugged bottle,

and put in its place
the undrugged bottle,

with just enough medicine
removed to account

for that which
Amanda Barton had taken.

And the drug bottle?

Disposed of somewhere
that same night.

How is this supposed to get rid
of Janice, too, Mr. Mason?

By making it appear
the knockout drops

had been added
to the medicine in the glass,

something only Janice
could've done,

since she always gave her aunt

the medicine at bedtime.

Well, it's,

it's very ingenious.

But what's to prevent
Janice from having done it

just the way the police say?

By putting knockout drops
in the glass?

In that case,
the bedside medicine

would've been
the new prescription.

No, Mrs. Simmons,

someone else is involved.

Someone who didn't know the
prescription had been changed.

Meaning, I suppose...

one of us.

(Christopher laughs)

Three heirs, or rather four,
now my father's gone.

Which of us are you going
to finger, as the phrase goes?

Violet?

Letitia?

Paulette?

Or me?

I don't know, Mr. Barton,
but I do know I need assistance

from the three of you
who aren't guilty.

That's why I've told you
what I have--

in the hope that you'll remember
something you've seen

or heard or suspect,

something
that might help save Janice.

(phone rings)

Miss Barton's residence.

Yes, he's here.

It's your secretary, Mr. Mason.

Yes, Della?

I see.

And Judge Ryder?

Thank you, Della.

Whatever help you can give me,
I, I need quickly.

The Supreme Court has rejected
Janice's appeal,

and later this week, Judge Ryder
will set the date of execution.

Janice.

A Wednesday, not less
than or more than days.

If you've come to tell me about
the day being set, Mr. Mason,

I already know.

Only, what time
on that particular Wednesday

will it happen?

It's not going to happen.

There's still the governor,
for one thing.

I've already talked
to his pardon secretary.

What time, Mr. Mason?

I want to know
so I can count the hours.

They say here, it always happens
at, at : in the morning.

Janice, you mustn't do this to
yourself because there's hope.

I think I know now
who k*lled your aunt.

You do?

Yes... but I need
your help to prove it.

Well, I've already
told you everything,

except about Charles
and his nurse--

you found that out yourself.

Now, Janice, think carefully.

I want you to confirm exactly
who came to see your aunt

on the day of the m*rder.

Well, Christopher--

he came every morning,
but he can't be the one.

It was a woman
Emily saw running away.

Violet?

Yes, she came that morning, too.

So did Letitia.

But couldn't
Emily have told you all this?

You forget that she was out most
of the morning, you weren't.

What about Paulette?

Was she there
at any time that day?

Yes, but, but the running--
she could never have...

You're thinking
of the Novocain treatments?

Yes, but... couldn't be.

It couldn't be.

She had every reason to hate me,

but to k*ll Aunt Amanda
just to involve me, no.

I'm not going to say
who it is yet, Janice,

not until I'm absolutely sure.

You haven't mentioned
Emily Green.

Wouldn't the $ , left her
in the will be a motive?

A very good motive...

and a very great deal depends
on Emily Green.

(vehicle approaching)

(car door closes)

(door opens)

(door closes)

Emily?

Ah, there you are.

: you said, and here I am,
right on the dot.

Now, what's all this about?

I think you know.

Al know, Emily, is,
on the phone you said

you wanted money or you'd talk.

Talk to who and about what?

To the police, about what I saw
in Miss Amanda's bedroom

the morning of the day she died.

Well, as I recall, Emily,

you were out of the house
that morning.

Only a part of the morning,
Mr. Barton.

I see.

We're alone?

Yes.

What is it you think
you saw, Emily,

that part of the morning
you were in?

I saw what happened
to the third medicine bottle.

The third?

The one Mr. Mason
hasn't thought about,

the one Miss Amanda
had been using.

I saw you take it
from her bedside table

and empty it into her washbasin.

(chuckles)

Why in the world
would I do that, Emily?

To make certain I'd put
the one that came in the mail

in its place on the table--
the bottle you had drugged.

So it is blackmail?

But, Emily, if you told this,
uh, this fable to the police

and I denied it, who do
you suppose they'd believe?

I haven't quite finished.

I thought it was strange,
what you had done,

so I took the bottle you had
emptied and put it in a corner

of Miss Amanda's
medicine cabinet.

Now, I don't know much
about such things,

but I'm sure,
if I showed it to the police,

they'd find
your fingerprints on it.

(laughs)

And I'm equally sure
that they wouldn't.

But what if they did?

I suppose they'd take you
to the pharmacy, Mr. Barton,

to see if anyone there could
identify you as the person

who had ordered and taken away

a bottle
of Miss Amanda's medicine.

How much are you asking, Emily?

The $ , extra you'll get

and wouldn't be getting if Miss
Janice hadn't been convicted.

Blackmail is dangerous business.

So is m*rder.

Quite true, so tomorrow
we'll go to the police,

let them hear all this, and then
we'll see who goes to jail--

me for m*rder
or you for blackmail.

Y-You mean that?

Yes, I mean that.

This is all poppycock
and you know it.

Where's my motive?

My father was in line to benefit

from Amanda's death, not me.

And Emily,
there's an even more fatal flaw.

It was a woman
you saw running away

that night, remember?

Why didn't you try this
on Violet or Letitia?

Or have you?

Here, put that away for me
and then start packing

because you won't be
coming back tomorrow

after we've seen the police.

(door opens)

(door closes)

I'm sorry, Mr. Mason,
I did the best I could.

Well, what now, Perry?

Do you want Miss Green
to try it on some of the others

as, uh, he suggested?

No.

It's funny, for a while there,

I really thought
you had the right one.

Well, uh, uh,
shouldn't we be going?

Yes.

Night, Miss Green,
and thank you.

I'll show you out.

Where do you want me
to drop you off, Perry?

Nearest cab stand will do fine.

After you, Lieutenant.

Thank you.

(footfalls)

-(g*n cocks)
- DRAKE: Hold it.

Keep your hands
right where they are.

Now turn around slow.

Well, maybe Brazil
was worthwhile after all.

Very much so, Paul.

Was there you found out
who the m*rder*r was.

I did?

By learning that Dr. Barton knew
he was dying.

Christopher gained nothing
unless his father inherited,

so Amanda had to die
before his father did.

Well, one thing
I'd like to know, Perry.

The medicine bottle
that Emily Green had--

was that really the one
that Christopher emptied?

No, she'd thrown
that away long before,

but Christopher
didn't know that.

Oh, Perry.

You know what day this is,
Mr. Mason?

Wednesday.

At just : .

How nice to have, have nothing
to breathe except air.

(gasps)

Hey, come on, Miss Barton,
the smog isn't that bad.

(theme music plays)