Matlock s01e21 Episode Script

The Therapist

Hey! Hey, you! Well, my feelings are you're a two-time louse, just like all the rest of them.
What's going on here? At the moment, you're interrupting Mrs.
Sutcliffe's session, Mr.
Cassidy.
What's the problem? I took three connecting flights on three different airlines to get here.
Nobody but you people are supposed to know I'm here.
- No one does.
- Oh, yeah? What about the photographer I caught sneaking around my suite? I'll notify Security.
Brett Cassidy, the movie star? Oh, I'm a great admirer of yours.
I rarely go to movies, but I've seen most of your pictures.
Barbara Sutcliffe.
All right, Mr.
Cassidy, if you'll go to your suite, I'll contact Security, and I'm sure they'll check everything out, okay? Listen to me, you guaranteed me my confidentiality and my privacy.
We'll talk about that during your session.
Would you like me to escort you back to your suite? - No, I think I can find it, thank you.
- It was nice meeting you.
- Can I help you, Mr.
Patterson? - I'm next.
Isn't that that movie actor, what's-his-name? - That's him.
- That's what I thought.
- He's not as tall as you'd expect.
- They never are.
Excuse me? Excuse me? - Hello? - Mr.
Matlock.
Mr.
Matlock.
The janitor let me in.
I must've fallen asleep.
I was awake all night on the bus, then I came here.
Excuse me.
- Do I know you? - Cassie.
Cassie Phillips from Chicago.
Chicago? You gave a lecture there at the university last March.
I remember that.
What can I do for you? Well, I'm here about the job.
What job? The one you promised me in Chicago, as your assistant.
- Assistant? - Right after the lecture, I interviewed you for the school paper.
My shoes.
I took them off when I began to nap while I was waiting for you to come in.
Don't take that as a criticism, because it's not.
I mean, a lot of people in your position start work late.
Miss Phillips, I think we have a serious misunderstanding here.
- We do? - I don't know who you are.
Well, I sent you a registered letter.
Where's my purse? Excuse me.
I know I kept the receipt.
I don't remember offering you any employment.
Well, I looked different then.
I had pink hair, remember? Oh, with all those little things in your ear? Yeah.
Well, when I decided to become a lawyer, well, I obviously needed a new look.
- You graduated? - Yes.
- From the university? - Yes.
I just enrolled at Baxter Law School.
And that's why I'm so grateful to you, because Baxter requires all its first-year students to be interns.
And so when I told-- Oh, so Baxter let you in because they think you're working for me? Yes.
How did that happen? I wrote it on my application.
Miss Phillips, you actually told them you had a job here? - Well, I'm sorry-- - You mean you won't give me a job? - There's no job to give.
- But what about that empty office? It's not empty.
That's my daughter Charlene's office.
She's in Philadelphia right now working on a case.
Miss Phillips, there is no job.
I don't know how I can say it any plainer.
I'm sorry.
Well, I guess it was just a misunderstanding, huh? I guess so.
Well, I guess I don't have to go to law school.
I mean, a girl my age has lots of options.
Lots of them.
Listen, thanks anyway.
I'm sure this was all my fault.
I must have assumed too much.
You know how impulsive young people can be.
They-- They get inspired by someone like yourself.
They wanna model themselves after them.
Get carried away.
Nice seeing you again.
Bye.
Wait a minute.
I suppose there are some odds and ends that could be done around here.
Filing things and taking things to the courthouse and Only temporary, till you find yourself a new position.
Oh, thank you.
I really appreciate this.
Put your things in Charlene's office for now.
Oh, they're already in there.
I'll get started right away.
Are you free for lunch? No.
No problem.
I'll be in here, if you need me.
And if you change your mind about lunch.
--final, 1 1 1- 1 1 0.
And that's it for sports.
Bonnie McGrath's up next with entertainment.
Bonnie? And do we have news tonight.
Women of Atlanta, hold on tight, because guess who's come to town.
Anonymous sources tell us that heartthrob star of stage and screen Brett Cassidy is making a pit stop at the Halvern Clinic, nationally known sex clinic here in Atlanta.
What's his problem? Well, we don't know yet.
But the way we hear it, the quarterback of romance may be having trouble scoring that winning touchdown.
More on this story as the juicy details become available.
In other entertainment-- Okay, Halvern, this has gone far enough I don't know.
I guess the person that took my picture could've been working for the TV station.
But I don't understand how they knew I was at the clinic.
Dr.
Halvern assured me that all the patients were registered under fictitious names.
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
I don't understand any of it.
That's a real puzzle, isn't it? - Who are you? - I'm Mr.
Matlock's assistant.
So you didn't notice that your isometric bar was missing? No, I didn't.
I don't carry it with me all the time.
- Are you an attorney? - Not exactly.
So someone could've taken it during your session - when you didn't have it with you? - That's possible.
If you're not an attorney, why are you asking me all these questions? I told you, I'm Mr.
Matlock's assistant.
Am I interrupting something? Oh, hi.
This is Ben Matlock.
This is Brett Cassidy.
You know, from Hollywood.
- Hello.
- Nice to meet you.
Mr.
Cassidy was here early, so I thought we'd get some of the preliminaries out of the way.
Would you just excuse us for a moment? It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr.
Cassidy.
What do you think you're doing? Getting a statement about what happened the night of the murder.
Shall I give it to you from the top? - I know all about it.
- You do? Sam Young told me this morning down at the jail.
- Who's Sam Young? - His local counsel.
Cassie, I'm not the new kid on the block.
You are.
Yeah.
Well, I guess I could type these notes out for the file.
Yeah, do that.
Type them up, file them, file this stuff, file everything.
And after you've filed everything, go through the classifieds.
I'll handle the case.
You're not my assistant.
You're just here temporarily till you find another job, remember? The classifieds.
Couldn't I do it after Mr.
Cassidy leaves? I could sort of stand silently by and take notes while you ques-- - Cassie.
- The classifieds.
He has no idea who stole his isometric bar.
Classifieds.
So Sam Young arrange your bail? That's right.
Said you were the best defence attorney in town.
Did he say I don't work for free? Money's no problem.
Well, you don't look like you've missed too many Thanksgivings.
What happened out there? Well, I had my session with Dr.
Halvern in the morning, went back to see him last night, he was dead.
District attorney says he has witnesses that you had an argument with Dr.
Halvern.
Dr.
Halvern assured me that no one would know I was at the clinic.
Then this local TV vulture uses me as the cover story for the evening news.
Well, where were you at the time of the murder? - In my suite.
- Alone? That's right.
You're not allowed to bring anybody with you when you stay at the clinic.
Why not? You're just not.
Yeah, but why not? Well, you see, the idea is to cleanse the mind and the body, remove yourself from the day-to-day life pressures while you're there, so when you go back, you can function better.
Function better? That's right, function better.
I have one other question.
Did you do it? - Do what? - Kill Dr.
Halvern.
No, sir, I didn't.
- Okay, you got a lawyer.
- Thank you.
Now, just curious, this ''functioning better'' part, what exactly goes on in those sessions? I don't wanna talk about it.
I didn't mean to press.
This is where the guard found Dr.
Halvern.
There doesn't appear to have been much of a struggle.
Were you the last person to see Dr.
Halvern alive? No, he had a patient at 7:00.
- Who was that? - Mrs.
Barbara Sutcliffe.
This Mrs.
Sutcliffe was here till 8:00? She would've left ten minutes before that.
The standard therapy hour is 50 minutes.
The 50-minute hour.
It allows the doctor time to make notes and organise his thoughts between patients.
Right.
You wanted to see me? Mr.
Matlock, this is Alex Fenton.
He was on duty that night.
- Mr.
Fenton, you a doctor? - Oh, no, no.
I'm a technician.
I take care of the equipment.
- What equipment? - The video and other equipment.
Dr.
Halvern recorded all his sessions.
Well, didn't that make his patients uncomfortable? They didn't know.
Thank you, Alex.
What happens to the clinic now that Dr.
Halvern's dead? It hasn't been decided yet.
You were engaged to him at one time, weren't you? That was a long time ago.
It's a shame you didn't marry.
This would've been yours.
One last question.
I was in my office writing reports alone.
Well, thank you.
Thank God you're here.
Now, there are these two and there's a suitcase in the bedroom.
If you want a tip, you'd better get moving.
I'm sorry, Mrs.
Sutcliffe, but I'm afraid we're not going anywhere.
- Well, what's this? - That is a subpoena.
And you can keep the change.
But you can't do this.
I've got a plane to catch.
I'm sorry, but we're gonna need you to testify at the trial.
Why do you need me? Aren't they going to convict Brett Cassidy? We're defending him.
- These belong to you? - No.
No.
No? I didn't think so.
Didn't look like the kind of key ring that you would have.
See you at the trial.
- Yeah? - Hi.
You Josh Patterson? - Who wants to know? - Special delivery.
- What's this? - It's a subpoena.
What'd you come up with? Barbara Sutcliffe, she's a regular at the clinic.
She's been married five times.
She checks in there after every divorce.
You think she just gets tired of them, or there's something wrong? You know, there's nothing happening.
Or maybe she just likes to move around? Could be.
What about Josh Patterson? Yeah, what about Josh Patterson? What's wrong with him? I don't know.
Well, what do they do in those sessions? I'm not sure.
Talk about whether they're tense or nervous or unsure, I guess.
You ever been to one of these places? No.
Have you? Not until now.
Well, what about Josh Patterson? You told me the patients at the clinic were supposed to stay there alone.
- Yeah.
- Well, he wasn't.
I saw someone else in his suite, and I swear it looked like a woman.
Do you think that's part of the therapy? Might not hurt.
Why don't you see if you can find out who it is? - I'm on my way.
- Yeah.
Yeah? - Evening, Joshua.
- Did Jennifer tell you I was here? Or did that creep Halvern call you too? My daughter suspects you're sleeping with some broad, and she's right.
I'm here to try and save my marriage.
What was that? Clean up your act, boy, or I'll clean it up for you.
Now, get out of here.
Oh, hi.
What are you doing? Well, I thought I'd rearrange these law books and put them in chronological order.
I hoped I'd be done before you got in, because I wanted to surprise you.
Cassie, I'm not looking for any surprises.
I had these books arranged according to my own system.
Civil law over there, criminal law over here.
Well, I'm not sure that I can put them back the way they were, because I didn't pay too much attention to the way they were.
I'm very particular about the way I like things, and I very much liked things the way they were.
And I like the music the way it was.
Did you file those petitions at the courthouse? No, not yet, but have I got news for you.
Cassie, those papers have to be in by today.
I'll do it.
Do you remember Bonnie McGrath, the TV announcer who did the piece on Brett Cassidy at the clinic? Well, the person who tipped her was a woman.
How do you know? Because I went to the TV station and I asked her.
We have a problem.
I figure that the person who tipped Bonnie is probably the same person who set Brett up for the murder.
That's not the problem.
Oh, I know I should've filed your motions before I went.
That's not the problem.
You're a law student.
You're not supposed to be working on these cases.
Well, I was just trying to help.
Cassie, you can't go around asking people questions when you have no idea how they'll react.
This is not a game.
Ben, once again, I am the bearer of good news.
Excuse me, am I interrupting something? Tyler, this is Cassie Phillips.
She's a filer.
She files things.
She's a temporary filer.
This is Tyler Hudson.
He's an investigator.
He's the one who goes around and asks people questions, okay? - Okay.
- What's the good news? All right, I paid a visit to Mr.
Patterson, and there is a woman in his suite, but it's not his wife.
Josh Patterson is married to Jennifer Gellar, the daughter of Big John Gellar, as you may remember, the centimillionaire out of Houston.
Now, take a look at this.
That's Mrs.
Patterson.
The woman out at the clinic is 20 pounds lighter and 1 0 years younger.
I'll go on and file some things.
Better get a subpoena on Mr.
Patterson's lady friend right away.
Okay.
It was a woman who tipped the TV station that Brett was at the clinic.
Now, how do we know that? - Cassie.
- Who is she? I don't know.
She showed up here the other day looking for work, and I was trying to help her out, but every time I turn my back, she's into everything.
Maybe if I keep her with me, she'll stay out of trouble.
Lay a subpoena on that dame out there.
You got it.
Get your coat.
We're-- - Who are you? - I wanna talk to you.
No.
You get out of here right now or I'm gonna call Security.
You can't do that.
You're not supposed to be here.
- What do you want? - I work for Ben Matlock.
He's Brett Cassidy's attorney.
And I'd like to ask you a few questions.
I'm not gonna answer any questions.
I think it would be better all around if you did.
Do you have a subpoena? Actually, I don't happen to have one on me.
Why don't we just assume that I have one? Can't we just talk this over informally, woman-to-woman? - You know, like that? - Why? - Because my life is a mess.
- What? My life is a mess.
See, I work for Ben Matlock, but it's only temporary, very temporary, unless I can show him that I can really make a contribution.
And if I don't, well, I'm out of his office, I'm out of law school, and I'm generally out of luck.
So I was hoping that maybe you could just answer one or two very small questions.
Like what? Like, why are you here with a married man? At first, I didn't know he was married.
I mean, he didn't mention it and I didn't ask.
Look, I know I shouldn't be here.
I should get out of here right now, but he wants me here, and he's so hard to refuse.
- Does that answer your question? - I had two.
Okay.
Where were you when Dr.
Halvern was murdered? Right here with Josh.
All night? I mean, you're sure he was here all night? Let's just put it this way: Neither one of us really needs any therapy.
Then why come here? It's quiet.
Place to hide out.
Oh, no.
Those guys, they work for Josh's father-in-law.
Well, get in the bedroom.
I'll take care of it.
- Kimberly Bradshaw? - She's not in at the moment.
Fellas, please.
Where are we going? Hey.
Hey, wait a minute! Mrs.
Sutcliffe, you've been a patient at the Halvern Clinic for the past two weeks.
- Is that correct? - Yes, it is.
And you were a patient there five times before.
Is that correct? Yes.
Dr.
Halvern helped me through my divorces.
- How? - Just talking.
I see.
- Do you own a home at Hilton Head? - I do.
Did Dr.
Halvern stay with you at your home in Hilton Head this past July, the 1 5th through the 22nd? Yes.
And do you own a cabin in the Berkshires, where you and Dr.
Halvern spent two weeks last December? Yes.
Mrs.
Sutcliffe, isn't it true that you and Dr.
Halvern were having an affair? It's-- It's not exactly a secret, Miss Sutcliffe.
Yes, we were having an affair.
And isn't it true that you recently found out that Dr.
Halvern was stepping out on you, seeing other women at the same time he was involved with you? Yes.
So this man whom you trusted and to whom you told your deepest secrets was deceiving you, wasn't he? - Yes.
- It made you very angry, didn't it? Yes.
I call your attention to this set of keys marked ''Halvern,'' and each key is numbered consecutively 1 through 20 with this charm.
- Do you recognise them? - I don't know.
My investigator found them in your bungalow.
So? Well, these keys open all the doors at the clinic.
What were they doing in your bungalow? Well, I suppose the technician, Mr.
Fenton, must've left them there when he came by to repair my TV.
The cable on my TV.
What's so special about them? Well, with these keys, you could've unlocked the door to Brett Cassidy's suite, stolen his isometric bar, and since you were Dr.
Halvern's last patient the night of the murder, you could've entered the therapy room without knocking.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Where were you at the time of the murder? - In my cottage.
- Alone? No, Mr.
Fenton came by to fix the cable on my TV.
Mrs.
Sutcliffe, it can't have taken Mr.
Fenton more than ten minutes to fix the cable on your TV.
It didn't.
Well, what time did Mr.
Fenton leave? Nine a.
m.
Nine a.
m.
? Alex and I have known each other for almost ten years, but I'd never realised what a kind and tender man he really is.
When Carl was murdered, I was with Alex, Mr.
Matlock.
- Is he going to be your next husband? - Well, as a matter of fact, yes.
Congratulations.
No further questions.
In view of the hour, court is in recess until 1 0 a.
m.
tomorrow.
- Thought I had her there for a second.
- Oh, you were doing good for a while.
- Well, there's always tomorrow.
- Yeah, I'm glad about that.
- Ben, Cassie's been kidnapped.
- What are you talking about? Two guys forced her into a limo out at the clinic and drove away.
- What was she doing at the clinic? - I didn't have time to ask.
Go down to Headquarters and get Lieutenant Daniels on this right away.
I'll go to the office to see if anybody left a message.
You got it.
Dad? I just called to see how you were.
Everything's great here.
Lieutenant Daniels, please.
This is an emergency.
Hello? Who's there? - Are you all right? - Perfect.
I've got the police looking for you.
I thought you were kidnapped.
Where have you been? It's all in my report.
Oh, I filed your motions at the courthouse.
Then I went out to the clinic and I saw Kimberly Bradshaw, the girl staying in Josh Patterson's bungalow.
Well, Big John's bodyguards thought I was Kimberly, so they kidnapped me instead of Kimberly.
I told Big John that Kimberly didn't know that Josh was married and she knows this will never work.
He turned out to be a very nice man.
He's giving Kimberly a plane ticket home to Burbank.
Yeah, that's where she lives, Burbank.
He's giving her a monthly allowance to help her get back on her feet.
Oh, and I forgot to type in the most important part: Kimberly and Josh Patterson have an alibi for the time of the murder.
They were together.
They don't need therapy.
So we can eliminate them as suspects.
So can people start calling me your assistant? You know, a regular job? I told you the first day, there is no job.
I was just trying to help you out.
I said maybe you could do a few things around here: file something, deliver some things to the courthouse, just till you find another position.
But you haven't done just that.
You've flown in all directions.
You've gotten yourself in situations that could've put you in all kinds of trouble.
I can't be a part of that.
Now, once again, there is no job.
I'm sorry, but that's the end of it.
Hello, Dr.
Lindstrom.
Oh, hello, Mr.
Matlock.
Were you looking for me? No, I was just wandering around trying to get a fresh thought on this case.
I'm kind of stuck.
Sometimes it helps, when you're stuck, if you just kind of walk around.
- Clears the head.
- I know.
I do it all the time.
Yeah.
Miss Sutcliffe has Alex for an alibi.
I don't know if I buy that.
And then Kimberly is Josh Patterson's alibi.
I don't know if I buy that.
Boy, there's a lot of people speaking up for one another.
Well, I guess it speaks for their commitment.
Yeah.
You're convinced Brett isn't guilty? I don't think he is.
I really don't.
Dr.
Halvern used 60-minute tapes to record those sessions.
They don't make Yeah.
Yeah.
So he'd just let the tape run out at the end of each session? That's correct.
If his last appointment was 7:00, it's possible the tape was running when the killer entered the therapy room.
But then that would mean that he would have to have been murdered before 8:00.
Well, anyway - Wish I could've been more helpful.
- Oh, you were.
You were.
Dr.
Lindstrom, I'm gonna need an expert witness at court on this stuff.
And since you're the only one I know, I'm afraid you get the short straw.
- Would you mind? - Sure.
When? - It's tomorrow.
- What time? - Nine.
- Oh, that's fine.
Okay.
The police sealed the therapy room, didn't they, with the tapes inside? Yes, they did.
Mrs.
Sutcliffe told me yesterday that her session started 1 5 minutes late.
I think that's what she said.
I wonder if her tape could've run till 8:1 5.
Well, thanks.
Thanks.
And 9:00 sharp.
Old Judge Cooksey's bad about people coming late.
- I'll be there.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Dr.
Lindstrom, you worked closely with Dr.
Halvern, didn't you? Yes.
We worked together for almost ten years.
So you know a lot about his practises? Yes.
Let's Let's pretend that I'm a patient at your clinic.
Now, what happens first? We take a case history, try to determine the problem, determine a therapy programme, and then you'd start sessions with Dr.
Halvern.
Dr.
Halvern recorded these sessions? Yes, he did.
- Why? - So we'd have absolute records.
You knew Dr.
Halvern personally as well as professionally, didn't you? Yes.
As I understand it, at one time, you and Dr.
Halvern were engaged to be married.
Yes.
But we decided we didn't need artificial sanctions to justify our physical relationship.
That's a pretty modern attitude.
Most people's perceptions about sex are archaic.
Did you know that Dr.
Halvern was having an affair with Mrs.
Sutcliffe and several others of the patients? I find that hard to believe.
Well, I'll tell you what I believe.
I believe that when you found out about his affairs with Mrs.
Sutcliffe and the others and you asked him to stop and he wouldn't, you killed him.
That's absurd.
Your Honour, this is a preliminary hearing.
Mr.
Matlock's speculations have no place here.
Your Honour, this is a reasonable line of questioning that may very well save the court time, expense and embarrassment of trying an innocent man.
I'm going to sustain the objection, Mr.
Matlock.
Yes, sir.
Do you know who Bonnie McGrath is? - She's a television reporter, isn't she? - Oh, yes.
- Did you ever speak with her? - No.
Isn't it true that you're the one who called Bonnie McGrath to tell her that Brett Cassidy was staying at the clinic? No.
Isn't it true that you told her Brett Cassidy was staying at the clinic, in order to give him an apparent motive for murder? - No.
- Objection.
- Asked and answered.
- Sustained.
Dr.
Lindstrom, do you remember our conversation yesterday about Mrs.
Sutcliffe's last appointment with Dr.
Halvern? Yes.
You said you thought the last few minutes of her tape might contain footage of the murder.
And Dr.
Halvern labelled all his cassettes, didn't he? Yes, with the patient's name and date.
So the cassette that the court would be interested in would be labelled, ''Barbara Sutcliffe, February 2, 1 987''? That's right.
Your Honour, at this time, in pursuant to the stipulation we reached in chambers, I would like to play and enter into evidence this video recording.
Proceed.
Now, Dr.
Lindstrom, I have to warn you, you have no idea what's on this tape.
See, I wasn't quite truthful with you yesterday when we talked.
I told you that Barbara Sutcliffe's last therapy session started 1 5 minutes late, which meant that her tape would've run till 8:1 5, which means if the killer entered the therapy room after the hour, 8:00, to kill Dr.
Halvern, that person would've been recorded on videotape in the act.
Which is why you had to get the tape, because of that possibility.
So, what we're going to see is a tape recorded in Dr.
Halvern's therapy room last night after we talked.
It's a fake.
The cameras weren't on last night.
How do you know? Because you didn't see the red record light on the camera? What you don't know is I had Mr.
Fenton disconnect it.
Now, let's see what you did in the therapy room.
We've blown up this part of the tape optically.
Dr.
Lindstrom, would you read the label on that cassette? Maybe you can't make it out from there.
It says, ''Barbara Sutcliffe, February 2, 1 987.
'' The day Dr.
Halvern was murdered.
Only the killer would've broken into the therapy room and would've taken that tape.
Only the killer would've been afraid of what was on it.
No further questions.
Your Honour, the defence moves for a complete dismissal of all charges against Brett Cassidy.
I'm inclined to grant the motion.
Does the prosecution object? No objection, Your Honour.
Case dismissed.
This court is adjourned.
Congratulations, Brett.
There they are.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Ben, I was a little worried about Cassie, so I stopped by her school.
She's gone.
Her roommate said she left for the bus station about two hours ago.
Where did her roommate say she was going? She has no idea.
Mama was right again.
Ain't nothing easy.
Oh, here.
Here.
Gentlemen, what do you say we go to my hotel and have dinner and celebrate, huh? You and Tyler go ahead.
I'll catch up to you later.
Shuttle service to Atlanta International Airport now boarding at Gate 4.
Mind if I sit down? Okay.
This bus-station coffee shop's got the best cinnamon rolls in town.
We won the case.
Congratulations.
So you're going on a trip.
Yep.
Dropped out of law school.
Yep.
That's a real shame.
You could've made a fine lawyer someday.
I can be hard sometimes.
Yeah.
And stubborn.
Yeah.
Transway bus to Chicago.
All passengers should now be boarding.
Transway bus to Chicago.
All passengers should now be boarding.
You know, I've had my law office for a long time, and I plan to keep it for a good long time still.
I like it small, just two or three people.
If there was a young, intelligent, energetic girl who, by the way, did a lot toward winning this case, if she were to come back to the office-- She'd still have to mind once in a while.
And I probably could teach her a few things.
--you think she'd be interested? She might.
It'd still be on a trial basis, and this time there'd have to be some real rules.
- Rules? - Well, I am the senior partner in this outfit, and before she were to go running off, talking to people, asking questions, getting herself kidnapped, and things like that, I think we should talk it over.
Okay? Okay.
Okay.
Is that all? For now.
You free for lunch?
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