03x12 - Miss Paisley's Cat

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Aired: October 2, 1955 – June 26, 1965.*
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American anthology series featuring dramas, thrillers and mysteries.
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03x12 - Miss Paisley's Cat

Post by bunniefuu »

Oh, good evening.

The leading man in tonight's
saga is an alley cat.


He must be fed
before each performance,

it keeps him
from eating the actors.

Today he's having
a finely chopped mice burger.


Naturally we used nothing
but contented mice.

For two weeks, they have been
fed nothing but tranquilizers.

Now, just as soon
as I can feed our star,

you shall see our story
"Miss Paisley's Cat."


Oh, dear,
there's a spot on the table.


What would Papa have said?

It must have been
something hot.

How could I have been
so careless?

Papa always told the servants,
there was no excuse
for carelessness.

Even when one is always alone,
it doesn't do to let down.


Papa always said a lady
behaves like a lady,

whether anyone
can see her or...

How on earth did you get here?

Oh, animals aren't allowed
in the Piedmont Apartments,
so you must go.


Go please.

What an ugly cat.

I don't suppose anyone
ever wants to stroke you.


Well, I suppose
you may stay for dinner.

Goodbye, Stanley.

Now be a good, good, kitty,

or be as good as you can,

and do try to
stay out of trouble.

Goodbye.

Good morning, Miss Paisley.

Good morning, Jenkins.

Excuse me, miss.

Would that striped cat
be yours, by any chance?

It is my cat, Jenkins.

I realize he's not supposed
to be here and...


I'd be very glad to pay you
a dollar a week for...


For any trouble
he might be to you.

Oh, that's very kind of you,
miss, and thank you.


But what I was going to
say was,

I saw it jump out of
Mr. Rinditch's window with
a bit of food in its mouth.


You know what Mr. Rinditch is.

I know he is a bookmaker
and a vulgar man.

Yes, miss, he sure is.

He's a violent man too, miss.

That's what I wanted to say.

Yes, yes, I understand.

I shall give Stanley raw meat,
then he won't steal.


I have to cut up your meat,
Stanley, and I'm rather
dreading it.


I always pick up my steak
and chops with a fork
to put them in the pan.

I've never actually handled
raw meat before, Stanley.


That wasn't considered
a necessary item in
my education.


See, Stanley,

I wore these gloves
when I use to ride during
my holidays from school.

They're the best leather.

Papa always bought
the best of everything.

Now, I hope this will
discourage you from

sneaking into Mr. Rinditch's
apartment, Stanley.


That man is not fit for
anyone, not even a cat
to associate with.

The other people
in this building are common,

they cannot help that,

but he is also vulgar

and that is
a matter of character.

Now, I'll show you
your present, Stanley.


You may not like it
but it's for your own good.


See, it says,
"$ reward for return",


and it gives
our name and address.

Now let me put it on you.

Now, don't fuss.

You brought this on yourself.

Good afternoon, Jenkins.
Afternoon, Miss Paisley.

Stanley.

Yeah?

You kicked my cat.

Your cat, is it?

Well, I thank you to keep it
out of my apartment.

I regret the trespass but...

I do too, but if I
catch him in here again,
you won't have no cat.


This is outrageous!

Jenkins.

I am going to file a complaint
against Mr. Rinditch
for cruelty to animals.

You won't bother him none
getting him fined.


He's a bookie, you know.

He gets fined many times.
It's part of his
business expenses.


How revolting.

You'd be surprised,
the cash that he handles.


The night before a big race,
he'll be home with that bag
of his stuffed full.


Then he'll go out around :

and do his round of the bars
and be back at :
with that much again.

The amount of the fine
is irrelevant, Jenkins,

this is a matter of principle.

Principle don't mean a thing
to Mr. Rinditch, miss.


Stanley, are you all right?

Stanley, don't go in there.

Stanley, come on. Come.

Kitty, kitty, kitty.

Oh, Stanley.

Stanley, don't...

Stanley, we are
in great danger.

Don't you care?

Oh, how can I make you
realize, Stanley?

We are helpless,
Stanley, helpless.

He's a dreadful man
and we've no recourse in law.


We can't prove anything.

The lawyer said we'd be
laughed out of court.


Oh, Stanley, why must you
be so independent?

Stanley, run away!

Danger. Danger.

Run.

I'm sure sorry, ma'am.
He jerked the leash
right out of my hand.


Sure hope he hasn't
hurt your cat.


On the contrary,
I'm afraid my cat
may have injured your dog.


I'm very sorry.

If there's anything I can do.

No, that's all right, ma'am.
He asked for it and he got it.


Your cat knows how to take
care of himself all right.

Get in under and strike up.

Oh?

I have some iodine
in my apartment.

He don't want none of that.

Maybe your cat has saved him
from losing an eye to
the next one.

Don't give it
any more thought.


You're very kind.

Thank you. Good day.

Good day.

Oh, Stanley!

Oh, my dear,
what a fright I've had.


And I didn't know
whether you were hurt or not.


Oh, I'm so glad you came in.

That huge dog.

Oh, Stanley,
I was so proud of you.

You knew just how to
defend yourself.

Get in under and strike up.

Oh, Stanley, do be careful.

I don't know
what I'd do if anything
should happen to you.


Stanley?

Kitty, kitty, kitty.

Stanley, where are you?

Stanley?

Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty.

Come on, kitty.
Come on, Stanley.

Kitty, kitty, kitty.

It's been hours.

How can you treat me this way?

I must find him.

Something may have
happened to him.

Stanley?

Are you in there?

You mustn't be in here, kitty.

Come on, Stanley! Come.

Kitty, kitty, kitty.

Jenkins!

Jenkins, I'm afraid something
terrible has happened!


Why, miss,
what seems to be the trouble?

Stanley, my little cat,
is missing.

And I...

I just saw his collar
in the wastepaper basket

in Mr. Rinditch's room.

What a pity, miss.

Jenkins, you must
investigate this at once.

It's your duty.

Yes, miss.

I sure hate to do this,
but there's something I think
you should see outside,


in back.

Very well, Jenkins.

He was in Mr. Rinditch's
room again soon after you
come home last night.


You shouldn't really be
surprised. He was bound to
do it sooner or later.


Maybe he didn't do it.

Maybe that wasn't
his collar I saw.


Oh, yes, it was, miss.

When my wife
went in this morning to
straighten up his apartment,

she spotted the collar
in the wastebasket.

She said the strap part
had been cut,
like maybe with a razor.

People are dreadful, Stanley,

dreadful.

Mr. Rinditch is a beast.

No, no, he's much worse.

You were the beast, Stanley,

a dear good little beast.

And Jenkins is a cruel man.

I can see that now.

He's...

He's always mocked me.

I think...

I think he was hoping
this would happen.

It excites him to
see us suffer.

It is now : .

In less than two hours,

Mr. Rinditch will come home.

You could defend yourself
against other animals,

but I taught you
to trust human beings

and I couldn't defend you
against them.


I've allowed myself
to become excited.


I must be calm.

I must be calm.

I must be very, very calm.

That's strange.

I don't remember
turning out the lights.


Good heavens, it's : ,

almost daylight.

No wonder I'm so tired.

Hey, Emma!
They took him away,
handcuffs and all!

What?

What is all this noise about?

The bookie
on the ground floor, miss.

Somebody cut him up
with a Kn*fe last night.

The cops have arrested
Bob Jenkins. They took him
away in handcuffs.

I see.
Hey, Myrtle.

Thank you very much.

I must think.

I must try to remember.

Get in under and strike up.

I went out...

I returned...

$ reward for return...
Return...

Oh, please help me.

Please.

I must have committed m*rder.

Miss Paisley,

do you really think
that you k*lled a man
while in a state of trance

because you believed
he had k*lled your cat?

I knew he had k*lled my cat.

Jenkins showed me
the cat's body and I myself
saw my little cat's collar



in Mr. Rinditch's
wastepaper basket.


Well, then that collar
should still be
in the basket, shouldn't it?


Naturally.

There was no collar
in the basket, Inspector.

Oh, I...

I must have
taken it away with me.

It must be here somewhere.

I can't think what
I could have done with it.


At what time did you k*ll him?

I don't know.

I have no memory of
the act itself.

I can only say that it was
fixed in my mind that I must
get close and strike upwards.

And how did you get in?

Again, I can't say.

I might have... I must have
got in through the window.

So you don't
remember anything,


you are simply working out
what you think
you must have done?

I appreciate the force
of your remark, Inspector.

But I must ask you to believe
that at : ,

I sat in that chair waiting.

That my next clear memory

is of starting up in
that chair at about : ,

noticing that
it was nearly daylight

and someone had
turned off the lights.

Quite so, quite so.

Now, we accept the fact
there's a period
you don't remember


in which you have
done various things,

but I don't believe
that you k*lled Rinditch.


What about the Kn*fe?

I can identify it.

And so could
dozens of people.

It's a very common kind
of Kn*fe, Miss Paisley.


Any hardware store
has sold hundreds of them.

But my Kn*fe is gone.

Miss Paisley,
if you had entered
Rinditch's apartment,


and done everything you said,

your fingerprints
would be all over the place.

I was wearing
leather riding gloves.

May I have look
at them, Miss Paisley?

I...

They're gone
and the raincoat, too.


What raincoat?
My gabardine raincoat.

I was wearing it and
the gloves when I sat
in that chair,

to wait for Mr. Rinditch
to come home.

When I came to,
they were gone.

You don't believe me.

Well, I believe that you
believe it all, Miss Paisley.

You felt that you had to
k*ll the man who had
k*lled your cat.

But you knew you couldn't
face up to a job like m*rder,
especially with a Kn*fe,


so you had a brainstorm
or whatever
you want to call it,

in which you
convinced yourself you had
committed the m*rder.

I don't understand.

Even if I can't prove that
I did it, why do you think
Jenkins did it?


At : this morning,
before the m*rder
was discovered,

a police officer found Jenkins
trying to sink a bag
in the river.

Now, that bag
belonged to Rinditch.

He had collected money in it
and kept it overnight.

And Jenkins has more than
$ in cash that
he can't account for.


Oh, yes,
Jenkins was always interested
in Mr. Rinditch's money.


Well, he must have discovered
the body and been unable
to resist the money.

I suppose he thought
he could get rid of the bag,
hide the money

and the police would think
that the m*rder*r
had taken it.

And that's exactly
what we do think, miss.


Now, do you still believe
that you k*lled him?

Well, then remember this,

if the brain can play
one sort of trick on you,

it can play another,
just as it's doing now.


Well, don't try to
figure it out.


Just relax and after a while,
the whole thing
will come back to you.

Goodbye, Miss Paisley.

Goodbye.

I tried.
I told him everything.

He was very kind,
very considerate.

Well, I suppose
I must just do as he says,

try to relax and
not think about it.

But it does seem
a little hard on Jenkins,

undesirable as he is.

I still miss you, Stanley.

Though it's been six months.

Six months and three days.

And I still find myself
looking toward the window,

listening for you.

I'm lonely, Stanley.

I was used to it
before you came,

but now I'm lonely.

Perhaps I'll get a kitten,

a very young one
that I can train
so it won't...


Oh, dear.

It's gone down
behind the cushion.


Oh, bother.

Well, I don't see how it...

$ reward for return...

Now, I remember

everything.

I took it out of
the basket afterwards.

I didn't want to
get blood on it,


so I took off my glove,

I took the collar
out of the basket

and put it
in the front of my dress.

Then...

Yes, I put on my glove

and went out the window
to the river,

that's where the coat
and Kn*fe and gloves are.


I must tell that
nice inspector.

What a pity poor Jenkins
has already been ex*cuted.

But the new superintendent
is much nicer.

Almost a gentleman in fact.

Unfortunately for Miss Paisley,
m*rder will out.

She was finally uncovered

chiefly through
the efforts of the SPCH,

the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Humans.

It's not a very
powerful organization,
but it's growing.


As for the star of our show,
Miss Paisley's cat, Stanley,


he went down
in the line of duty,

making a revival of
our play impossible.

But all is not lost,

he is being used for dog food.

And on this pleasant note,
we conclude tonight's
entertainment.


Until next time, good night.
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