05x24 - The Case of the Melancholy Marksman

[bunniefuu]

[Man]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand, Irene.

Now, look, Irene, please,
I-- I can't.

I won't.

[sighs]

- Yeah, yeah. I understand.
- [door opens]

Your husband just walked in.
I'll call you later.

- Hello, Mr. Chase.
- Len.

Uh, I want another one
of those water purifier kits.

Oh. Going to South America again?

You've still got them down in the basement,
haven't you?

Well, sure. I'll get one for you.

Here you are, Mr. Chase.

You need a g*n this time?
Little side trip to the jungle?

No. Uh, just tell Tony to charge this.

Yeah. Sure.

[door opens, closes]

Irene?

Irene, are you home yet?

# Irene, good night #

[footsteps approaching]

You see, you're my children,

and, uh, I want you to come home.

Irene's there.

Well, Irene wants you
to come home, too.

She's not our real mother,

so we won't come home as long
as she's there, Daddy.

Will we, Anne?

No, we won't.

But, uh, I love you, and I miss you.

We miss you, too.

You could take Irene out
and drown her.

Well, you could.

Girls, why don't you go out
and ask Martha for tea, hmm?

Yeah. Uh...

Will you stay here for tea, Daddy?

We won't talk about Irene anymore.

- All right.
- We're afraid of her all the same.

Well, I'll stay, so you go ahead
and get the tea, and...

You know, Ted,
you're going to have to choose

between your children and that woman.

Why did I ever marry her?

You didn't. She married you.

But you're not the first man

who ever got caught
at his first wife's funeral.

Oh, divorce Irene, Ted. Get rid of her.

Ellen-- Ellen, you're, uh--

you're forgetting that crazy
financial agreement I made.

You see,
a divorce would wreck the company

and ruin us--

you, the kids, Mother, Dad, everybody.

But, you know--

you know, maybe-- just maybe--
there's another way,

a way that's even more legal.

Only I don't want to use
the company lawyers.

Do you know a man named Perry Mason?

Well, I've never met him.

Well, he's a friend of mine.

Go and talk to him,

and then take a vacation, Ted.

Just you and the children somewhere.

That Mr. Vale can run things down
at the place while you're away, can't he?

Ellen, I don't need a vacation.

Yes, you do.

Ted, have you seen a doctor lately?

The way you perspire
and get dizzy and...

You see, there's really nothing wrong
with me that can't be cured

in one way or another.

You're trying to say that you now believe

your first wife did not commit su1c1de?

Yes. Yes, that's right.

You mean she was m*rder*d?

Look, Mr. Mason, let me tell you something
about Betty, my wife--

uh, my first wife.

You know how some people save string?

Betty saved paper.

Uh, she would write shopping lists
on old envelopes.

She saved paper bags.

She would answer letters
on the letter itself.

Here. Now, here's a note
that she wrote me.

It's dated the day before she d*ed.

"Darling, I've tried and tried
to make you listen to me about Irene.

You won't believe me.
But now"...

That's all.

I found that just a few days ago between
the blotter and the pad on Betty's old desk.

Now, she must have hidden it there
for a reason.

But whatever it was she was trying
to tell me, she never finished.

I frankly don't see the significance.

Mr. Mason, why should Betty
try to k*ll herself?

She had everything.
At least, materially speaking, she did.

Your wife left a su1c1de note.

Also on the back of an old envelope.

Oh, it just said she had had
all she could stand,

and she was going to put an end to it.

In fact, the police still have it,
I suppose.

Where was Irene at that time?

She was on her way to Catalina.

She proved that, I guess.

Oh, actually,
all we have is this note

indicating a vague desire
to tell you something.

- [slams hand on desk]
- But why didn't she finish the note?

Mr. Mason, Betty did not k*ll herself.

The coroner must have
based his verdict on good evidence,

plus the su1c1de note and the fact that
no one else was in the apartment at the time.

Now, I can reexamine the matter
in the light of this--

You-- You just do what you want.

Maybe the answer
isn't in a law book anyway.

[door opens, closes]

[knocking]

Who is it?

Irene, darling.

These will be ready for tomorrow,
won't they, darling?

No. No, they won't.

Oh, but they will.

We made a deal, Irene, and you said
when it was over, it was over.

Have you forgotten that I still have that
little old piece of paper, Herman?

My name is Len. Leonard Dykes.

What a nice little job you have here,
working for Tony.

And such a nice little apartment for you
and your unsuspecting little wife.

But only for Leonard Dykes.

Not for Herman Dickson.

You'd hurt anybody, wouldn't you?

Tomorrow, then, darling?

Or would you rather
take the third-time trip?

You know, one of these days, you're going
to push somebody too far, Irene,

and they'll k*ll you.

I know, darling,
but it isn't going to be you.

So be sweet now.
I'll see you tomorrow.

[laughing]

So he says if it would've happened
one minute sooner,

I'd have had a fractured skull.

More?

Hi, Irene. Uh, look,

my wife has been sick,
and I let the insurance lapse.

But I'll take care of everything
in a week or two.

Well, Cecil, darling,
you make me feel like Shylock.

You know, I've never pressured you
for the payments.

I'm just here looking
for my wandering husband.

Oh. Oh, well, he didn't come in tonight.

It's the first time he's missed
in a week.

He didn't come home, either.

I worry so much about his health.

He's going away on a business trip soon.

You are taking care
of him for me, aren't you, darling?

Oh, sure. That's easy. He'll be okay.

Thanks, darling.

You don't have to tell me.

I know. Irene.

Gee, a guy tries to be nice
and not wake his wife up

and she gives him this Irene business.

- Irene who?
- Irene Chase.

You reek of her.

I was going to buy you some perfume
and this girl tried it on me.

You've been with her again.

I wouldn't touch that woman
with a foot pole.

- Don't you yell at me.
- Anyway, Irene is my cousin.

Kissing cousin.

- She came here this evening.
- Here?

When I told her you were
still at the store, she said,

"If you knew your
husband as well as I do,"

and then she laughed in my face.

Well, I was there.

She said it would be terrible for me
if you got into trouble.

What sort of trouble would I be in?

All I do is engrave fancy pictures
on rich men's g*ns.

Come on. Let's go to bed.

Forget about Irene.

How?

That kind of woman
I could k*ll with my bare hands.

So could I.

Tony? Hi, darling.

Wonderful news.
He's going back to cha-cha land.

Come to me the moment he leaves.

Now, why take a chance, Irene?

We've only got to wait
a little while longer.

But I want you here with me now.

I want to see you and talk to you.

Good idea. Only I've got other things
I have to do tonight.

Not too many things, darling,

or you might not be quite
so welcome next time.

You know, if we didn't love
each other so much,

I'd think you didn't trust me, sweet.

But now I really must say good night.

[Man on radio]
And now, the latest weather report.

a fast moving front
which will bring thunderstorms and rain

is expected to pass over the area
around midnight.

However, tomorrow
will be clearer and cooler.

[radio off]

Now, I'm gonna ask you once more,
and this is the last time. Will you--

The answer's still no.

And if you want to divorce me,

I'll hold you to the agreement you made
when you married me.

Well, then, I'll have to hold you
to that other agreement, remember?

Everything I've given you goes into
a trust fund for my children.

That's only in case I die, darling.

[door opens, closes]

## [loud jazz]

[thunderclap]

Turn it off.

[radio off]

What are you listening to, Mr. Chase?
What do you want to hear?

- I want to hear the wrath of God.
- [thunderclap]

Hear who?

[thunderclap]

[thunderclap]

[thunderclap]

[thunderclap]

You know, it's not what happens today

that breaks a man down, Cecil.

It's the remorse
over what happened yesterday

and the dread of tomorrow.

I was supposed to catch
a plane tonight, Cecil,

I think.

Cecil...

Cecil, am I mad, Cecil?

A mad man?

[Man on radio] We interrupt this program
to bring you this news bulletin.

Police report the apparent m*rder of the wife
of socialite Theodore Chase,

President of the Chase Enterprises.

The beautiful Mrs. Irene Chase
was found sh*t to death in her apartment

less than an hour ago.

Police are now searching
for the missing husband.

We return you know
to our regular program.

## [jazz]

Hey, you missed your-- If you wait a minute,
I'll get you a cab to the airport.

No.

Ellen, I'm sober now and sane, I think.

All I need is a little more time.

Listen to me, Ted. Wait.
Go see Perry Mason.

Look, the only thing that's important is
that you and my children are taken care of,

and I haven't got much time.

But we don't need help, you do.

Don't you realize this is all that guy Vale
needs to wipe you out? He'll ruin you.

So listen to me.

There'll be a package for you
at the Santa Monica post office.

General delivery.

Go get it and keep it
and keep quiet about it.

- [phone clicks]
- Ted? Ted!

[phone buttons rattle]

- Yeah. Yeah. Fine. Good.
- [camera shutter clicks]

He did? Fine. Good work.

Yeah.

[knocking]

They found a r*fle on the building
across the way.

Morning, Andy.

Oh, good morning, Counselor.

You couldn't possibly be looking
for a client?

That depends upon whether you mean
finding one or getting one, Lieutenant.

And your client couldn't possibly be
Mr. Theodore Chase?

What've you got, Charlie?

Well, I found the slug that k*lled her,
Lieutenant,

but it's sure going to be tough to trace.

Hitting that fireplace afterwards
didn't help any. Look.

All right. You'll run it down, Charlie.
Oh, and tell your boys to make real sure

about any powder burns
or g*n powder residue.

All right. But I'm almost sure the g*n wasn't
fired from in here, Lieutenant.

How did you find out about the m*rder,
Lieutenant?

Simple deduction, Perry.

A woman, identity unknown,
called and reported it at : a.m.

- She was here, waiting for you?
- She was not.

Why are you so anxious about my client?

I have a feeling you'll be discussing that
with him soon...in jail.

Ellen, what time was it
when Ted called you from Mexico?

About : a.m.

He said he was going to hide down there until
the police found the person who k*lled her.

- You don't think he did?
- Oh, Perry.

I've watched my brother--

a good man, a kind, intelligent man--

endure tortures beyond human endurance,

but he did not k*ll her.

And if your law and justice
can't prove that---

Our justice isn't barbaric, Ellen.

It won't accept any eye for an eye.

It only wants those truly guilty
to be punished.

And any man who can run away
like a thief in the night,

leaving his little children to think
that their father is a m*rder*r,

is not, in my mind,
a good, kind, intelligent man.

He did not run away!

Ellen, where is he?

Your brother is sick, Ellen.

Help me find him before the police do.

Well, I think he--
he might go to the office.

On Sunday?

He wanted to get some money for his children

before Charles Vale has everything
in the company tied up.

Vale's the new vice president
I told you about.

And apparently there's
some stocks down there,

some of Ted's own securities
that his children are entitled to.

[drawers rattling, papers rustling]

Good morning.

Good morning.
And who might you be?

My name is Mason. I'm an attorney.

Miss Chase
gave me permission to come here.

I feel so sorry for her.
Such a tragedy.

I'm going to have trouble
saving this corporation.

For whom?

For the stockholders, of course.
I'm Charles Vale.

I understand some of the major stockholders

are violently opposed to you
as an officer of the firm, Mr. Vale.

Some firms need vice presidents
the stockholders violently oppose.

This was one of them.

I was brought in to pump some life into it.

I'm afraid to salvage anything.

I'm going to have to
be given complete control.

And if you are not given control?

It will be.

You see, Mr. Mason,
in addition to m*rder, there is now theft.

Some very valuable assets of this corporation
have been stolen from that safe.

You feel Mr. Chase
may have taken them?

Of course.
They were stock certificates in his name.

But he'd promised that we could use them
later on as collateral

for an essential loan for the corporation.

But if you had stock powers
and a third-party release,

the stocks could actually be used
by you now, right?

His sister will certainly verify
that Mr. Chase

never gave me any such authority.

I wasn't suggesting
he gave them to you.

- [Drake] Perry.
- Excuse me, Mr. Vale.

- What do you have, Paul?
- Something that might be interesting.

Irene Chase was formerly married
to a man named Tony Benson,

but she didn't use that name
when she went to work for Chase,

and she didn't tell anyone there
she was married.

Know anything about Benson?

Yeah, he has a sporting goods store
over on Barclay Street.

Has a guy by the name of Len Dykes
working for him.

And here's another item:

a week after Chase's first wife
committed su1c1de,

Tony Benson divorced Irene in Mexico.

All right.

We better see Mr. Benson.

[knocking]

Oh. Tony.

You look like something
that came up on the well rope.

What's the matter, Sylvia?

Haven't you heard?

Sure. Only where's Len?
I've got to see him.

I don't know. I thought you knew.

Did Len k*ll her, Tony?

Now, why should Len sh**t her?

Well, he was playing around with her.

The paper said
she was k*lled at : last night.

He didn't get home till : .

If I were you, Sylvia,
I'd forget all about that.

You think Len did it, don't you?

Forget it, I said.

[doorknob clicking]

[stomping]

Ah, there you are.

What's the idea of locking me
out of my own store?

Oh, sorry.

I want those stock powers, Len.

What?

You know what I'm talking about.

I've got the release forms at home,
and now I want those stock powers, too.

Tony, I wouldn't keep
those things around here,

not with the cops crawling
all over the place.

I, uh...

I've got them in a bus station
locker downtown.

Main station.

Signed?

I know when I'm over a barrel, Tony.

Okay.

You going home now?

Sure. Nothing else to do.

Just because she's dead,
that doesn't purify you, Len.

Remember that.

Yeah, I'll remember that.

[door closes]

Well, that's the number.
That's Benson's place.

The only solution to the parking problem
in Los Angeles is to get rid of the cars.

Try around the corner.

[door buzzer buzzes]

Mr. Benson?
My name is Mason. I'm an attorney.

This is Mr. Paul Drake.

I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Mason.

I think I know why you're here,
and I'll try and help you all I can.

A terrible thing, isn't it?
Won't you come in?

Mrs. Chase was once your wife,
I believe.

Legally, yes.
She bought me off.

Bought a divorce
the way you buy a loaf of bread.

So she could make a play for Ted Chase?

Him and his company.

Mr. Mason,
if Irene had lived a little longer,

she'd have gained control
of the Chase Enterprises,

lock, stock and barrel.

What did she buy you off with?

A sporting goods store.

That all?

Well, there was to be a little more
after she married Chase.

Here's the rest of the payment.

They're stocks.
She gave them to me a couple of days ago.

Roughly a hundred thousand dollars' worth.

But these are registered in the name
of Ted Chase.

Even if you could sell them, the money
would have to go into his account.

Here's the release form.

I don't know how she made him sign that,

but it authorizes the money
from the sale of his stock to go to me.

This is still useless without stock powers
to go with each of the certificates.

She was going to get Chase
to sign those, too.

She was trying to keep Vale
from finding out about it.

Only now...

Mr. Benson, you have a gunsmith
working for you named Len Dykes.

Did you know that his real name
was Herman Dickson?

That he served two terms for forgery?

If Len Dykes
did forge some papers for Irene,

then her death leaves him unprotected.

He must have thought
she'd given them to me.

I'd just barely opened the door
when you came in.

Ted Chase.

What's the matter with that man?

- He was hit on the head.
- There's only a bump.

That couldn't cause him to react
as though he had been drugged.

But there's no evidence of any drug.

Well, it could be some form of shock,
couldn't it?

After all, he was knocked out,
and he is suspected of m*rder.

Perhaps.
I'll run some tests later, if you like.

You want me to make that call now?

I don't know what hit me or who.

I couldn't find some stock certificates
in my office or any place else.

Finally, I...

I came up here to Tony Benson's
to see if he had them.

The door was already open.

And when I came into this room...

That's all I remember.

Did you k*ll Irene?

Mason, have you ever lived in a nightmare?

In a dream where you couldn't
tell right from wrong?

Did you ever live with a woman
who k*lled your wife,

terrified your children,
and stolen your belongings?

Ted, you do admit that
you made elaborate plans to k*ll Irene.

No. No, the plans were for me, not her.

So you went through all this just so
you could be faced with the final test--

would you pull the trigger or wouldn't you?

I guess I was deeper in the dream
than I thought, huh?

Was I-- Was I insane?

You know, it doesn't do me
much good now to know

to know that-- to know that
I never could k*ll anyone.

Because what if someone else watched me,

followed me,

and when I didn't pull the trigger,
they did?

You see, I can't even ask you
to defend me, Mason.

Because suppose that I made it possible
for someone else to k*ll?

Perry, I got Paul's phone call.

Thanks for being willing
to cooperate with us, Mr. Chase.

Your Honor, in spite of the fact
that this b*llet was so damaged

by striking the stone fireplace

that it's impossible to make
a positive connection

between this b*llet
and this r*fle ballistically.

Nevertheless, would you tell me this, sir?

What is the weight of this b*llet you found
in the defendant's apartment?

grains.

And what weight b*llet is fired
by this r*fle fire?

grains.

[Lawyer]
Then Is it your opinion that this b*llet,

fired from this r*fle could have k*lled
Irene Chase?

[Man]
Well, she was k*lled by a b*llet.

That's the only one we found
in the apartment, so...yes.

Thank you, sir.
I think that'll be all.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Now, forgetting that r*fle for the moment,

could you tell me what weight b*llet is used

in the . Magnum handgun?

A -grain b*llet.

And how many . Magnum handguns,

revolvers or automatics have been made?

Ten? A hundred? A thousand?

Thousands.

Then that b*llet could have been fired
not only by the r*fle,

but by any one of thousands of handguns?

Conceivably, yes.

Now, you've established
the trajectory of that b*llet

through the decedent, the chaise
and on to the fireplace.

Is it your opinion, as an expert,

that the decedent must have been either
sitting or reclining on that chaise

at the time she was k*lled?

She couldn't have been anyplace else.

No, our medical examination of the flesh
and clothing of the decedent

disclosed no residue of b*rned
or unburned g*n powder.

That means that that r*fle
must've been fired

from a considerable distance away
from Mrs. Chase?

No. But it could not
have been close to her,

or there would have been evidence
of g*n powder residue.

Now, Doctor, were you able
to establish the time of death?

[Doctor]
Between : p.m. and midnight, I'd say.

Thank you. That'll be all.
Your witness.

Doctor, in this matter of powder burns
or residue,

about how far away would a g*n have to be
so as not to leave such residue?

Could it have been fired,
say, from feet away?

At that distance, there would have been
no residue on the body of the decedent.

But feet in the established line
of trajectory

would've put the g*n
way outside the window.

Any closer inside the window,

there would have been residue
on the carpeting

between the window and chaise.

The police examined
that area very carefully.

There was not a trace
of g*n powder residue anywhere.

When the thunder really got loud,
he left my bar.

Was he drunk?

No. No. He'd been drinking,
but I wouldn't say he was drunk.

In other words, he'd had enough drinks
to deaden his inhibitions,

but he wasn't too drunk to sh**t straight?

Strike that question.

You know better than that, Mr. Burger.

I beg the court's pardon, Your Honor.

That'll be all. Your witness.

I have no questions at this time,
Your Honor,

but if the prosecutor will permit,

I would like the privilege
of recalling this witness later on.

Now, Mrs. Dykes, you've stated
that you live on the top floor

of the apartment building
where that r*fle was found.

What did you see there the night
that Irene Chase was m*rder*d?

Well, as I was came out of my apartment
at quarter of : that night,

I saw Mr. Chase get out of the elevator
and walk down the hall

to the door that leads to the roof.

[Lawyer] Thank you, Mrs. Dykes.
That'll be all.

Cross-examine, Mr. Mason?

Mrs. Dykes, you say you left
your apartment at : .

What time did you return?

A little before : , I guess.

Where did you go during that time?

I-- I went to the neighborhood drugstore,

and a couple of bars and places...

I-- I was looking for my husband.

Was one of those places
Irene Chase's apartment?

- No.
- Did you find your husband?

No, I didn't.

You say you went to the Chase apartment
shortly after midnight?

I manage pretty well,
in spite of the wheelchair.

You had a key
to the m*rder*d woman's apartment?

Miss Chase, as a hostile witness,
you must answer.

I had a key
to my brother's apartment, yes.

And what did you find when you went in?

I found that-- that woman dead.

Then returned to your home,
and over an hour later,

you phoned the police, anonymously.

Why did you wait so long?

I was waiting for my brother.

You were waiting to give your brother
time to hide, weren't you?

Your Honor,

this sort of heckling goes beyond
the leading questions allowed to prosecution.

Objection sustained.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

As you say, Miss Chase, you seem quite able
to get around despite your condition.

Now, are you also able to fire a g*n?

I'm a good sh*t with a p*stol.

But a r*fle is a little too much for me.

Did you go to that apartment with
the intention of k*lling your sister-in-law?

I thought about it, yes.

But I did not find it necessary.

About two weeks
before Mrs. Chase was m*rder*d,

the defendant made certain accusations
against you and his wife.

What were these accusations?

He accused me and his wife
of plotting to ruin his corporation.

Can you remember
any specific words he used?

To Irene, yes.

He said, "You're doing this.

You're doing everything.
I'll k*ll you."

He said,
"Someday I'm going to k*ll you."

Perry, you're going to buy my lunch.

- Did that doctor get you that lab report?
- No. Take a look at this.

It looks like a b*rned...

Della, do we have a blank
stock power handy?

Where'd you get this, Paul?

The workshop in Tony Benson's store.

[footsteps approaching]

Well, the bridle and the saddle,

and all we need is the horse.

Huh?

I'm afraid you'll have to forego lunch.

I want you to stay right on that su1c1de--

the death of the first Mrs. Chase.

Well, I found this r*fle was missing
from the store

the day after Mr. Chase was in,
carrying this big flower box.

See, it was one of several g*ns that I'd been
checking the sights on, so I noticed.

And there sure wasn't anybody else who could
have taken it during that time.

Can you tell us,
of your own knowledge,

if Ted Chase is a good sh*t
with a r*fle?

Oh, he's one of the best.

That'll be all.
Your witness.

Tell me, when you checked the sights
on those g*ns, did you also test-fire them?

Yeah. We got a range in the basement.
That's how you do it.

And you hadn't yet cleaned the g*n
you believed Mr. Chase took?

Well, no, I guess not.

Now, Mr. Dykes-- or Mr. Dickson,
whichever--

you've twice been convicted of forgery.

I'm sure you know that a third conviction
could lead to life in prison?

Yeah, yeah. I know that.

I show you this release

that authorizes that money
from the sale of Mr. Chase's stock

to be paid to Tony Benson.

Now, did you forge Mr. Chase's signature
to this release?

May I remind you, Mr. Mason,
it is not a crime

to write someone's name on a piece of paper

unless that piece of paper is used legally
to affect the rights of others?

I accept the reminder, Mr. Burger.

And thank you,
on behalf of the witness,

for rushing to his aid
with a suggested answer.

Then you did forge the signature?

Well, I was just fooling around.

I show you now

a remnant
of a b*rned stock power.

Now, were you just fooling around

when you forged that signature?

Yeah, I guess I was.

And at the first opportunity
after the death of Irene Chase,

you b*rned the stock powers
you'd forged, did you not?

Well, I didn't wanna leave them
lying around.

Of course not.

But you still had to find this release,
did you not?

Because you knew that it's discovery
by anyone else

could send you back to prison.

Let's go back to the night
of the death of Irene Chase.

Did you, that night,
go to her apartment

looking for another one of your forgeries--

a forgery with which she had been
blackmailing you?

No. No, I never went near Irene.

Well, sure, I saw her earlier,
but not that late.

Your Honor, I object to all
this wild exploration.

Mr. Mason himself
has helped bring out testimony

that the total lack of any trace
of powder residue in the m*rder apartment

proves conclusively that the decedent
could not have been sh*t at close range.

- Therefore--
- [Judge] Objection sustained.

Since it is approaching the hour
for evening adjournment, I--

Very well, Your Honor.
However, with the court's permission,

I would like to postpone further
cross-examination of this witness

until I can present other evidence
which may prove that he's perjured himself.

Perry, this is Miss Mabel Richmond.

Well, it all happened some time ago.

You see, I work in the beauty shop
Irene went to.

And once she told me she was hiding
from her husband,

so she gave me
a round-trip ticket to Catalina.

So I went.

She asked me to use her name.

So I did.

Didn't the simultaneous death
of Betty Chase

make you realize that Irene might have been
using you for some sort of alibi?

But I didn't even know about it.

And I sure didn't know Irene
needed any alibi.

Mabel, you admitted you were pretty nervous
when a man came around asking questions.

A man named Smathers.

Oh, yeah. But that wasn't
any policeman or anything.

It was just a guy who dated me
and got sorta curious.

This man Smathers.
Where is he now?

Search me.
He never came back.

All right. Thank you.

Uh, you'll be ready
at court tomorrow.

Perry, I also got the lab analysis.

Any coffee, Della?

A woman's work is never done.

I- .

What's the matter?

That's radioactive iodine.

Like in the fallout?

Used for metabolic diseases,
thyroid, and angina.

And the doc said it's an odorless,
colorless, tasteless liquid.

And enough of it can
reduce a human being

to nothing more than a vegetable.

Sure, Mr. Chase came to my bar
almost every evening.

Not that he drank much.

But he'd sit there with a whiskey and soda
just-- just thinking, I guess.

Now tell us this:
did you or the relief bartender

ever put anything into the defendant's drinks
other than whiskey and soda?

I don't follow you.

When my investigators talked
to your relief man, he mentioned that--

Oh, sure.
You must mean the vitamins.

Chase's wife asked me to do it,
because he needed them--

that he would never remember
to take them at home.

Is this the vitamins to which you refer?

Yeah, it looks like it.

Your Honor,
this bottle contains I- ,

a radioactive iodine which, if given
in small doses over a period of time,

can render a man's mind incapable
of sound decisions,

even incapable of telling right from wrong.

Well, had the defendant
been given this regularly?

[Mason]
He'd been given it regularly, Your Honor,

without his knowledge or consent.

But Irene said it was only vitamins.

She swore to me it wasn't really anything
that could hurt him.

I tasted it.

Honest, I didn't know it wasn't vitamins.

That's enough. Mr. Burger.

I think I should adjourn this hearing
until your office can look into this.

And also, Mr. Mason,
I want to consider the legal aspects

of a plea of insanity
due to destructive dr*gs.

You've only one more witness,
haven't you, Mr. Burger?

- That's right.
- And, Your Honor,

may I suggest that we complete this hearing

just in case we find it not necessary
to enter such a plea?

Very well. But I wonder if it's in
the best interests of the defendant.

Mr. Benson you acquired the ownership
of your sporting goods store

the time of your divorce from your
first wife, the deceased Irene Chase.

- Is that correct?
- Yes, sir.

- And you hired Len Dykes?
- Yes.

Because of his skill as an engraver.

Now, you tell us that Len Dykes
reported to you

the theft of the r*fle by Mr. Chase.

Why didn't you report that theft
to the police?

Ted Chase was a friend of mine
and a good customer.

I knew if he'd taken it, he'd pay for it.

All right. So that will be all.
Your witness.

Mr. Benson,

going back to the time of the su1c1de
of the first Mrs. Chase,

did you ever wonder why Irene,
your wife at that time,

wasn't aboard a certain plane
to Catalina as she said she was?

I don't quite get the question.

Does the name Smathers
mean anything to you?

- Did you ever use that name?
- No.

A young woman by the name of Mabel Richmond
is waiting outside that door.

Didn't Mabel Richmond once admit to you

that she used Irene's name
on that Catalina plane trip?

And didn't you then wonder why Irene wanted
to conceal her own whereabouts?

Or did you perhaps think that someday

you might blackmail Irene
over the m*rder of Betty Chase?

I don't know anything about any m*rder.

Irene later risked a very secure position
as Chase's wife by stealing from him.

She also risked imprisonment
as an accomplice to a forgery.

Now, would a woman as shrewd
and intelligent as she was

have risked all these things
without being forced to do it by you?

We made a bargain.

It didn't concern me where
the money came from.

That's right.
You had the stolen stock certificates.

You had the third-party release.
All you needed were the stock powers.

So on the night of Irene's death,

you went to her apartment
to force her to give them to you.

When she wouldn't, you k*lled her.

No. I'm not a fool.

I would have lost $ ,
by k*lling her.

Why should I k*ll her?

Perhaps because she wanted to k*ll you.

As long as you were alive,
you were a thr*at to her.

Maybe the two of you fought.

Objection, Your Honor.

It's been established,
repeatedly and beyond question,

that there was no trace
of powder b*rned or unburned

on the body of the decedent
or anywhere in the m*rder room.

and that therefore,
the g*n that k*lled her

could not have been fired
inside that apartment.

That's well taken, Mr. Burger.

Mr. Mason, I agree. Much of your evidence
does seem to be irrelevant.

Your Honor,
I'll attempt to show the relevancy right now.

Suppose that inside
the apartment that night,

Irene suddenly pulled a g*n on you,

and you grabbed her--

No, no, you can't pin this thing on me.

Suppose you were both
on the chaise at the time.

You struggled for the g*n.

No, I tell you.

Suppose that g*n went off.

You just heard Mr. Burger say
the sh*t couldn't have been fired in there.

Suppose Mr. Burger's wrong.

Suppose your right arm...

No, it's not true.

It is your right arm, isn't it?

[gasps]

Your Honor,
upon a doctor's examination,

I'm sure we'll find a b*llet wound
in this man's arm.

There's your missing powder residue,
Mr. Burger.

Every single bit of it.

Now, I have the g*n.

Ow. Oh, be careful. Ouch!

All right. Pow!
The g*n goes off right against my arm.

All right. Now what do I do?

You fall down. You're dead.

[Anderson]
Aw, what a pity.

Perry, I just dropped by for a lesson
in deduction.

What started you on the su1c1de
of Betty Chase?

I wish I could call it deduction, Andy.

Let me read you these notes
of Betty Chase's.

"Darling, I've tried to make you
listen to me about Irene

and you won't believe me, but now"...

This is the su1c1de note.

"I can't stand it any longer.

Darling, I know these are horrible words
to write, but it is the only way left.

Forgive me."

Well, they're both part of one note.

And it's still not even finished.

She was just about to tell him
she was going to expose Irene, somehow.

But Irene found the last half of it,

saw that she could use it as a su1c1de note.

The rest is rather ugly history.

I'm just thankful
that the whole thing is over

and that Ted and his sister and children
are going to be all right.

[Drake]
How about Vale?

This will be news to all of you.

While Ted's vacationing,

the Chase family has asked me
to represent them in their corporation.

Well, that will take care
of Mr. Charles Vale.