Perry Mason (1957) s01e25 Episode Script

LOWELL: "Personal.
Wanted.
Information concerning the daughter of a man named Hocksley, who was a partner in certain adventures in China during the years Daughter is approximately You must forgive, my dear.
My eyes are not what they used to be.
DORIS: Here, let me read it, Mr.
Lowell.
Go ahead, my dear.
"To claim estate in excess of $2,200,000.
Proof of identity and evidence of paternity required.
Contact Elston Carr, Los Angeles, California.
Warning.
Impostors will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
" Two million dollars.
Hocksley.
An unusual name.
How many women named Hocksley, your age, do you think there are in San Francisco? Just one, Miss Hocksley.
Just one.
You.
It would not be fair if we did not try, Miss Hocksley.
More than $2 million.
Good morning, Becky.
Good morning, Mr.
Neil.
Any messages for me? Yes, uh, a Miss Gladstone phoned at 9:15.
And a Miss Walker a few minutes later.
At 10, some woman called, but she refused to leave her name.
Oh, me, what did I do to deserve such popularity? I often wonder.
Don't you worry, Becky.
You're the only one I love.
Now what else is on the agenda? Um, a Miss Doris Hocksley's waiting to see you.
- Another Hocksley? - Mm-hm.
All right, let's get it over with.
That's quite a history.
What did your father look like? I don't remember.
I just have kind of an impression of him.
I was only a child the last time I saw him.
What was his given name? Adam.
Your mother's maiden name? Wickford.
Octavia Wickford.
My birth certificate's in here.
I'm 29.
Wedding licence, Photostat.
Rent receipts, Denver.
San Francisco.
Is this all the evidence you have? No photographs? We never had a photograph of him.
- No letters? - My mother used to get letters, but after she died, he didn't write anymore.
Oh.
I got a package from China.
Peiping.
Just a few years ago.
A book and a note.
The note was written on the back of a picture.
Mr.
Neil, did he die in Peiping? Adam Hocksley died there.
His note sounded almost like goodbye.
As though he knew he was going to die.
Something about a partner double-crossing him, turning Judas.
Was that true? Miss Hocksley, where is that picture? Where did you get all this information? These papers? Who supplied them to you? What do you mean? Nobody.
Why are you talking like this? I believe you're a fraud.
You have what looks like a well-documented case.
Very carefully put together, but, uh, there are two things missing.
Two pieces of evidence which would prove beyond a doubt that you're Adam Hocksley's daughter.
- You have neither of them.
- If you'll let me talk to Mr.
Carr, he'll-- He'll turn you right over to the district attorney.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry you made the trip down here for nothing.
Miss Hocksley, if you had that additional evidence, your claim would be foolproof.
Well, I can't think what it could be.
I don't know specifically what it is either, but I know where the answer is.
In my uncle's safe.
So near and yet so far.
Seems a shame, doesn't it? - Mr.
Neil-- - I wonder.
I was just thinking.
A girl like you could probably find more use for $2 million than the Havemeyer Foundation.
The Havemeyer Foundation? Yes, that's where all my uncle's money goes in the event he doesn't locate the right Hocksley girl.
Isn't that a horrible thought? All that money going to a cold, heartless foundation.
It almost makes me wanna gamble.
How do you feel about gambling? I don't think I understand.
Are you, uh, familiar with the game of draw poker? Yes.
Well, suppose, and mind you I say suppose, the dealer were friendly to you and managed to deal you the winning hand.
Would you feel inclined to tip him? Just as a matter of curiosity, how much would the dealer think his services were worth? Half the pot? Half of $2 million? Well, without the dealer, your hand is worthless.
You think it over, Miss Hocksley.
And if you decide to sit in the game, you let me know.
Well, it's an interesting story, Miss Hocksley.
You say he didn't stop you or correct you as you went along? No, Mr.
Mason.
But I got the impression he thinks I'm the woman Mr.
Carr is looking for.
Why didn't he let you talk to Mr.
Carr? He said the answer to that was in Mr.
Carr's safe.
Della, get Elston Carr on the phone, will you? [KNOCKING ON DOOR.]
Good morning, Perry.
You left word you wanted to see me? Yes.
Paul Drake, this is Doris Hocksley.
- How do you do Miss Hocksley? DORIS: Mr.
Drake.
He might have figured you had these papers duplicated.
Any good photographer could do that.
Perry, I have Rebecca Gentrie on the line, Mr.
Carr's secretary.
She won't put us through.
All right, I'll talk with her.
Hello, Miss Gentrie? This is Perry Mason.
Yes, Mr.
Mason? I understand Elston Carr is undertaking the disposition of Adam Hocksley's estate.
Do you represent a claimant? Well, no.
Not at this time.
Hold on, please? When are you leaving for San Francisco? Today on the 1:30 flight.
I have to.
I've already taken one day off from work.
What? He wants to see me? All right, Miss Gentrie.
No, tomorrow will not be convenient.
Uh, what about this afternoon? Two-thirty will be fine.
We have a date.
If I only knew you were going to represent me, Mr.
Mason.
Well, we'll have to look into it a bit.
Please, I don't know where else to go.
I just don't know what to do.
Well, we'll see.
I'll be in touch.
Mr.
Neil, Miss Street, Mr.
Mason.
- It's an honour, Miss Street.
- Thank you.
- A privilege.
MASON: How do you do? REBECCA: Please excuse the extreme heat.
The reason for it is-- Me.
I'm the reason for it.
- Mr.
Carr, this is-- - I know who it is.
Perry Mason, the lawyer.
Who's she? Miss Street is my confidential secretary.
Get her out of here.
I don't want any notes taken.
I don't want any blackmail.
I'll go along with you, Della.
Getting a little warm in here for me also.
CARR: Mason.
Mason, what claptrap trickery are you up to? What are you afraid of, Mr.
Carr? I understand human nature.
I know what people do to each other when there's a dollar concerned.
I appreciate the fact that you have to be careful in disposing of the Hocksley estate, but-- That's where you're wrong, Mason.
Legally, there is no Hocksley estate.
As far as the law is concerned, that money belongs to me, all of it.
Adam Hocksley's daughter isn't entitled to a penny.
I'm simply gonna give her the money as a personal gift.
MASON: So the question of an executor or administrator - doesn't enter the picture at all.
- Not at all.
That way you could avoid all probate proceedings and inheritance taxes.
We are gonna get along just fine long as we understand each other.
I'm still not sure I understand you.
Because I'm suspicious and cynical? For 25 years, the three of us were partners.
Myself, John Lowell and Adam Hocksley.
The Orient was our home.
We trafficked in guns, in ammunition, information.
A hundred times we saved each other's lives.
We had it made, Mason.
A fortune in U.
S.
banks.
We were ready to call it quits, when one of us turned Judas.
- Which one of you? - John Lowell.
Judas Lowell.
He had Adam Hocksley and me turned over to the Chinese Communists.
They trapped us in Peiping when the war broke out in Korea.
Adam was killed.
I was wounded.
Gow Loong saved me.
I think-- I think Gow Loong hates John Lowell as much as I do.
I search.
I look.
I find some day.
I think Mr.
Lowell in States now.
Well, anyway, why I wanted to see you, Mason, here.
My nephew, Alan Neil, has been helping me find Adam Hocksley's daughter.
I need someone like you to do the job right.
Well, take a look at the cheque.
- Ten thousand dollars.
- Just a retainer.
Which, uh, brings me to the reason I wanted to see you.
A young woman wants me to represent her as a claimant to the, uh, Hocksley estate.
What? Who's she? Miriam Hocksley? No, Doris Hocksley.
Yes, I spoke to Doris Hocksley this morning.
She's just another claimant.
Another fraud, you mean.
Well, tell her you're working for me now.
I think what happened in Peiping corroborated her story, at least in part.
What, she had a story about Peiping? Well, she claimed to have received a package from there and a note.
What was in the package? A book, she said.
But she didn't have it with her.
Did she say what kind of a book? - No.
- No photograph? No.
But she also claimed the note said something about a Judas.
She didn't have that either.
But she did have other documentation.
If it's a question of which, I think I'd prefer to believe Miriam Hocksley.
Miriam Hocksley must be another claimant.
That's why I need you.
- Better work for me immediately.
- I'm sorry, I can't.
What? What do you mean, you can't? I may represent Doris Hocksley.
In the event I do, her interest might conflict with yours.
Could you get me Miriam Hocksley's address? After that my mother remarried.
My father's name was Adam Hocksley.
He had a biblical turn of mind.
He called me Miriam.
All I know is that he died when I was a child.
You know, I'm not just frantic to get my hands on this Hocksley inheritance, but if I'm really entitled to it, I want it.
Well, that's understandable.
May I ask what proof or documentation you have? Well, I know that Mr.
Carr is looking for a book and a picture of some sort.
I remember something vaguely about a book and a picture of my father's.
So I telephoned my housekeeper in Palm Beach and she's airmailing some books from my home.
I see.
Then there are some birth certificates and, uh, handwriting specimens.
That's about all, I guess.
Well, I'm impressed.
It's all very effective.
Artless, honest, aboveboard.
But what do you think? I don't know.
[PHONE RINGS.]
- Hello.
DELLA [ON PHONE.]
: Perry? Is that you, Della? Where are you? Home.
Listen, service just got a phone call from Elston Carr's secretary.
She's frantic and wants to talk to you.
Shall I give her your number? - Frantic? - Hysterical.
They said she said something about a shooting.
- All right, give her the number.
- Right.
[PHONE RINGS.]
- Hello, Miss Gentrie? - Mr.
Mason.
Mr.
Mason, what shall I do? I've got him trapped inside Mr.
Carr's study.
- Got who trapped? - I don't know.
I just came home and I heard a shot.
It came from inside the study.
I locked the door on him, Mr.
Mason.
What shall I do now? - Elston Carr has been shot? - Yes.
I saw him sprawled on the floor.
There's somebody else in there with him.
I think he's dead.
What shall I do? Call the police.
Get hold of Lieutenant Tragg, Homicide Division.
- Do you hear me? - Yes.
- Yes.
- I'll be right over.
Get there as soon as I can.
Come out with your hands over your head.
That's the works? Here are his personal effects.
He didn't have much on him, did he? No, sir.
Well Heh.
That's an old baby, isn't it? That shouldn't be opened except in the presence of an inheritance appraiser.
I don't intend to remove a thing.
Uh, did you check this dial for fingerprints? It's been wiped clean.
This mean anything to you? You mean the number 13? Yeah.
- What does it mean to you, Tragg? - Combination.
The combination of the safe is 17 left, If anyone had that combination and Carr surprised that person while trying to open the safe, that person could have been forced to shoot Carr.
Well, if that surmise is correct, you need only to turn right from 13 until you reach four.
That's right, Perry.
A big safe like that and all that's in it is an empty tin.
It's not reasonable.
Where did you get this Bible and this photograph? I asked you something, Miss Hocksley.
Shock, Tragg.
She needs medical attention.
She'll get it.
Okay, Sanchez, take her downtown.
Then book her after the medic looks her over.
Where are the other members of this household? The help come in by the day.
Mr.
Neil and Gow Loong and I live here.
Mr.
Neil has been out all evening.
I don't know where.
Gow Loong disappeared just before dinner.
You stayed in? No, I didn't want to leave Mr.
Carr, but he insisted I go to the theatre.
To a show I had tickets for.
And, uh, you left him alone.
Yes.
When I returned, I saw this light on from outside.
It's not unusual.
He often works late in here.
I let myself into the house and came upstairs.
Then I heard the shot.
There was someone moving around in here.
I couldn't see who it was.
But I could see Mr.
Carr's body on the floor.
I closed the door and locked it.
Why? Carr might have still been alive.
No.
No, from the glimpse I had of him I was sure he was dead.
Then I called Mr.
Mason.
Oh, so she called you instead of the police.
That's very interesting.
Any idea where this stuff came from? Perhaps Doris Hocksley could've brought them here.
May I see that Bible? Notice how the corners are rounded.
Well? Perhaps it, uh, fits in this tin.
- Hi, Perry.
- Good morning, Paul.
- Anything? - A little.
Seems all the action was down here not up in San Francisco.
We had our share.
- Go ahead.
- Well, Doris Hocksley's in trouble.
Financial trouble.
She has a job that pays her Out of which she takes home about 48.
She's a widow, married name's Jackson.
Also she has a 6-year-old daughter in an institution.
What kind of institution? One of those places for crippled children.
The kid had polio.
- Hopeless? - Doris keeps hoping.
Anyway, that costs her a hundred dollars a month, which is about one-third of the usual cost.
They have her listed under "extreme hardship.
" Hundred a month out of her 48 a week.
- How'd you find all this? - Records.
Doris Hocksley never checked out of her Los Angeles hotel.
Never went back to San Francisco.
She said she had some things that came from there.
Wait a minute, maybe she did.
There's an old guy, runs a photo shop next door to the building where Doris lives.
Now he asked the manager for a key to Doris' apartment.
He said she called long distance from Los Angeles and wanted some things from her bedroom.
He runs a photo shop? Yeah, his name's Lowell.
Lowell? Della, bring in your notes on Doris Hocksley.
Did you talk to this old man? No, he wasn't there.
Didn't come back all afternoon and all that evening.
Della, Elston Carr said there were three partners.
Himself, Adam Hocksley, and who else? John Lowell.
- John Lowell.
DELLA: Mm-hm.
Well, how are you feeling, Doris? - All right now, thank you.
- Good.
Care to talk a little while? Yes.
You told Lieutenant Tragg that Elston Carr telephoned you.
Asked you to come to his home.
That no one answered your ring, but the front door was open.
When you got to the library, Mr.
Carr was dead and the gun was on the floor.
Do you remember saying all those things? Yes.
Did you have that gun with you? No.
Rebecca Gentrie said she heard a shot.
Did you fire the gun? I saw the gun on the floor.
I picked it up.
My hand must've accidentally touched the trigger.
It went off.
All right.
I'll accept that.
There's something I haven't told you.
About Alan Neil.
He-- He offered me a deal.
What kind of a deal? The missing pieces of evidence, which he said would give me a foolproof case.
Half the pot, fifty-fifty.
Did Neil tell you what these missing pieces of evidence were? He didn't know specifically.
He said they were in the safe.
Doris, why didn't you tell me about this deal? I don't know.
Maybe unconsciously I felt if everything else failed, I'd accept it.
Did you? - No.
- You told Lieutenant Tragg that when you went to see Mr.
Carr, you took the Bible and a photograph along.
I did.
Where did you get that photograph? Mr.
Lowell brought it down from San Francisco.
I telephoned him.
How long have you known him? Oh About four months.
Ever since he opened his photo shop next door to my apartment house.
Now, that, um That photograph, it wasn't yours, Mr.
Lowell didn't get it from your apartment.
No.
I told you, I once received a package from my father.
A book and a note.
I kept the book, it was the Bible.
The note was written on the back of a photograph.
I threw it away.
The photograph Mr.
Lowell brought to you from San Francisco was identical to the one you threw away? The very same picture, but how could that be? How could Mr.
Lowell--? The corners of the photograph were rounded like the Bible? I don't remember.
How could Mr.
Lowell bring me a photograph I'd thrown away years ago? He's a photographer.
He could've duplicated it.
Well, in any case, I, uh I know how Mr.
Burger, our district attorney, is gonna think, how he's gonna plan the prosecution.
He'll maintain that you're a fraud.
That you were coached and documented by John Lowell.
No.
That instead of Elston Carr calling you, you undertook to call on him.
Carr was in his study.
You shot him.
Before you could make your escape, Rebecca Gentrie returned from the theatre, locked you in the library.
It's not true.
But how can I prove it? Well, as your attorney, Doris, you'll get the answer to that from the only man alive who can give it to you.
Your very good friend, John Lowell.
LOONG: One moment, please.
Gow Loong.
Hello, Mr.
Mason.
Good afternoon.
Where is John Lowell? He is gone.
Gone? Gone where? Just gone.
I suspect to travel, to wander.
Tell me, where has your broken English gone? Where's the accent I heard when we last met? You do not expect an accent from me, Mr.
Mason.
Most people do.
By giving them what they expect, I save many explanations.
Gow Loong, did you kill John Lowell? Mr.
Mason, once I saw an epitaph.
A phrase on stone.
"That this man, who for many a year found death in life, may here find life in death.
" I think John Lowell should have that on his stone when he dies.
Then he is alive? I came here to kill him, Mr.
Mason.
A man is a complex thing.
He misinterprets so many things in life because of his viewpoint.
Himself, his ego, his selfishness.
Well, it is 50,000 years fighting out of a cave against 5,000 in society.
So you misunderstood him.
I thought he betrayed us for money.
I thought the Communists reached a money figure he could not turn down.
And it wasn't money.
It wasn't money at all.
It was back to the cave.
It must've overwhelmed him, flooded him, drowned him.
Fear? "Panic.
No thinking, no breathing.
Just blood in my head.
They were going to kill me slowly.
It was like that and nothing else.
They were going to kill me.
" The Communists.
You see, I hated him for selling us out.
But it wasn't for money.
He had been captured and it was his own life he was bribed with.
His life for ours.
How do you face that kind of choice, when the moment is on you? And breathing stops and thinking stops? How do you face that kind of choice? I don't know.
I found these scribblings in the wastebasket.
Lowell was trying to explain to Doris Hocksley, I think.
To tell her not to hate him.
Because all of the hate in the world couldn't equal his own hate for himself.
He tried to tell her of the horrors.
The terrors of living these last years with what he had done.
But he couldn't.
I think he has run away again.
I think he will run away all the rest of his life.
- And you went through all his papers? - Yes.
Nothing to explain that empty tin box? No, I'm sorry.
Nothing.
Not even positive identification of Adam Hocksley's daughter.
- There are so many questions in life.
- Mm-hm.
And it's late in the day for me to find answers to some of the questions Hamilton Burger's gonna ask of me.
[SPEAKS IN CHINESE.]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE.]
BURGER: In your capacity as coroner, would you please tell the court, Dr.
Morton, how the death occurred? The death was practically instantaneous.
One .
38-calibre bullet entering the chest, piercing the left ventricle of the heart.
The other penetrating the peritoneum and lodging against the spine.
Fired from how far away? Oh, very close.
Six to nine feet, I judge.
That's all.
Thank you.
Your witness.
MASON: How many bullets did you say, doctor? - Two bullets.
- Thank you, that's all.
Miss Gentrie, you've described the events leading up to your arrival at the house on the night of April 5th.
After hearing the shot, you ran to the library? - Yes.
- And what did you do then? I slammed the door shut and locked it.
Then you locked the killer in the library.
Objection.
Sorry, I'll rephrase the question.
You locked someone in the library.
And that person was thus forced to remain until the police arrived.
Yes.
Who was the person that you locked in the library? Miss Doris Hocksley.
- Is she in court at this moment? - Yes, she is.
She's sitting at that table, next to Mr.
Mason.
Thank you, that's all.
Your witness.
Miss Gentrie, when you returned from the theatre, was the front door of the house locked or unlocked? Unlocked.
When you approached the library, you heard a shot? - Yes.
- A shot? One shot? - Yes.
- Thank you, that's all.
Lieutenant, I'm holding here a .
38 automatic.
It's been examined by laboratory technicians who have testified that bullets recovered from the body of Elston Carr were fired from it.
- Yes, sir.
- And fingerprints found on it match those of Doris Hocksley, the defendant? TRAGG: That's correct.
BURGER: Do you recognise this automatic? Yes, it was in the library, lying on the floor near the body of Mr.
Carr.
It was there when you broke in? Yes, we found Mr.
Carr dead, Miss Doris Hocksley kneeling on the floor in a state of shock.
Now I ask you if you also recognise as having been in that room, - this Bible.
- Yes, sir.
- And this photograph? - Yes.
- And this tin box.
- Yes, sir.
If it please the court, the State would like to enter these in evidence to be marked as Exhibits Number 4, 5 and 6.
Your witness.
Lieutenant Tragg, Dr.
Morton has testified that two bullets were recovered from the body.
How many bullets were fired from that gun? Three.
Was the third bullet recovered? Yes, we found it in the floor.
- It was a miss.
- That's an opinion, lieutenant.
Isn't it possible the defendant came into the library, saw the dead body, and picked up the gun wonderingly, as an innocent person might, accidentally discharging it, and sending the bullet into the floor? Now that's an opinion too.
I only ask if it is possible.
Oh, it's possible.
Now, lieutenant, Exhibit 6, the empty tin box, came out of the safe.
Yes.
What do you believe was the function of that empty tin box? Objection, Your Honour.
That calls for a conclusion of the witness not based on facts.
I would assume that Mr.
Mason would know that.
Objection sustained.
Very well, let me put it this way.
In experimenting with that empty tin box, you found that the Bible with rounded corners, Exhibit 4, fitted into the box perfectly, did you not? Yes.
And the photograph did not fit into it? No.
No, sir.
Do you attach any particular significance to that fact? No, none.
Thank you, lieutenant.
That's all.
If it please the court, the State intends to call Miss Miriam Hocksley as our next witness.
However, she seems not to have understood her instructions.
Miss Hocksley is not in the courtroom? She can be brought here in 45 minutes.
You may step down, lieutenant.
Then since it is almost time for noon recess, court stands adjourned till 2:30 this afternoon.
Come on, darling, we're gonna be late.
Wait a minute, darling.
You nervous? You mean about testifying - this afternoon? - Mm.
Should I be? No.
But I'd like to ask you a favour.
Of course.
Just watch yourself on the stand.
Oh, what I mean is, uh, you don't have to volunteer anything about what happened the night of Harry Foster's party.
You mean, some people might not understand? You know what I love about you? I never have to draw you a diagram.
Miss Hocksley, you know of course that since Elston Carr's death, a legal administrator has been appointed in the matter of your father's-- Of Adam Hocksley's estate.
Yes, I know.
At any time prior to Elston Carr's death, did you have a discussion with Mr.
Mason, the attorney for defence in this case? Yes, I did.
He told me at that time that he might be representing one of the claimants.
BURGER: Did he tell you anything about that claimant? He told me that she knew where the key evidence was.
And was that in the safe in Elston Carr's library? Objection.
Hearsay.
If it please the court, I'm trying to establish constructive knowledge on the part of the defendant.
I'll permit the witness to answer the question.
- Should I repeat the question? - No.
He told me that she knew the evidence was in the safe.
Thank you.
Cross-examine.
Miss Hocksley, was a Bible or a photograph part of the evidence you presented in establishing claim to the Hocksley estate? No, it wasn't.
Now, you sent to your Florida home for a book and a photograph, was the photograph the same as this one marked Exhibit 5? No.
Was the book a Bible with rounded corners? No.
Thank you.
Miss Hocksley, would you please tell us where you were on the night Elston Carr was murdered? I object, Your Honour.
That's improper cross-examination.
Mr.
Mason is going into subjects not covered in my direct examination.
If it please the court, I am trying to establish possible bias on the part of the witness.
On that ground, I will allow the question.
Answer the question please, Miss Hocksley.
On the night of April 5th, I was at a party in Beverly Hills.
People by the name of Foster.
MASON: Thank you, that's all.
Call Alan Neil to the stand, please.
In what capacity do you serve your uncle, Mr.
Neil? I was helping him uncover the real daughter of Adam Hocksley.
On April 5th, did a pretender--? MASON: I object to the district attorney's choice of words.
Really, Mr.
Mason? I used the word pretender in its classic sense, as in pretender to the throne.
Well, since this hearing is not being conducted under a monarchy, may I suggest a choice of words a little more on the contemporary side, just to eliminate, uh, misunderstanding? Uh, I'm inclined to agree with Mr.
Mason.
Objection sustained.
On April 5th, did Doris Hocksley represent herself to you - as the daughter of Adam Hocksley? - Yes.
- Did she bring evidence of that? - Yes.
- Was it authentic? - It didn't seem so to me.
Why not? Well, I'd been told by my uncle that the real daughter would present a book and a photograph.
- Doris did not present these items.
- No, sir.
And yet she wanted to get in to see Mr.
Carr? Yes.
I didn't pass her in, of course.
Part of my job is to weed out obvious frauds.
I see.
Thank you very much.
Your witness.
Mr.
Neil, the book you refer to was the Bible? - Yes, I think so.
- Think so? Don't you know? No.
Nobody knew how my uncle was going to separate the real daughter from the fakes.
It does have something to do with that empty tin box, however? I object, Your Honour.
That calls for a conclusion of the witness.
Sustained.
Your Honour, this case hinges on this empty tin box.
If we knew the secret of why it is empty and what its function was supposed to be in determining proof of identity, we would also know the secret of who killed Elston Carr.
Your Honour, it's no secret.
The State knows who killed Elston Carr.
Mr.
Mason is just manufacturing issues.
It seems to me, Mr.
Mason, these matters of speculation are not germane.
Proceed with the cross-examination, please.
Yes, Your Honour.
Mr.
Neil, who else besides you and Elston Carr knew the combination to his safe? My uncle was the only one who knew the combination.
Then how did you propose to supply Doris Hocksley with the missing pieces of evidence? I didn't.
Mr.
Neil, where were you during the evening Elston Carr was killed? At a party.
- The same party Miriam attended? - Yes.
According to my information, you left that party with Miriam Hocksley at about 11:00.
- And didn't return until after 1.
NEIL: That's correct.
Is it not a fact that during those two hours you went back to your uncle's home? Opened his safe to remove certain pieces of evidence? - No.
- And is it not a fact that you were surprised in the act of opening the safe by your uncle - and then forced to kill him? - No.
No? Then where did you go during those two hours? We went-- - Miriam and I got married.
MASON: Where? NEIL: Right here in town.
We got the licence a week ago.
Your Honour, this witness has categorically denied every one of Mr.
Mason's assumptions.
And since all of his testimony is subject to proof by investigation, I see no reason we should not conclude he's telling the truth.
Your Honour, I agree with Mr.
Burger.
I do believe the witness is telling the truth.
And based upon that truth, I should like to try a little experiment.
What kind of an experiment? There must be something about this empty tin box which bears some proof of identity.
Now we know that this Bible fits the empty tin box perfectly.
Now if Adam Hocksley's daughter possessed this Bible, it would go a long way towards proving her authenticity.
What about the photograph? That doesn't fit.
May I, Your Honour? Your Honour-- If Mr.
Mason's crawling out on a limb, Mr.
Burger, let's give him a chance to saw it off.
That's State's evidence.
They're the same photograph.
Proof of identity, Your Honour.
I submit that the pieces of evidence in Elston Carr's safe were just this empty tin box in which the rightful heir's Bible would fit.
And the photograph found in the false bottom of the box, which could be compared with this one.
Now, both that Bible and that photograph were in the possession of the defendant.
Gentlemen, this is quite a new development.
Under the circumstances, I think we owe it to ourselves to give it due consideration.
Court stands adjourned till 10:00 tomorrow morning.
[PHONE RINGING.]
- Hello.
WOMAN [ON PHONE.]
: Mr.
Mason? - Yes.
- Miriam Hocksley.
I want you to know I killed him.
- What are you talking about? - My husband, Alan Neil.
He was no good.
He was only using me.
He murdered his uncle.
You listen to me, Miriam.
Don't you understand, he killed his uncle.
I don't want that girl to pay for something she didn't do.
Now she can go free.
- What have you done? - I told you I killed him and I loved him.
And I'm going to kill myself.
Miriam.
[GUNSHOT.]
Hello? Miriam.
Operator, give me the police.
Well, Neil's dead.
Shot through the chest and heart.
Miriam Hocksley has a 40-60 chance to pull through.
One of the peculiar aspects of this case, lieutenant.
- Mm? What? - Miriam Hocksley.
She was completely honest right through this whole thing.
She didn't know whether she was Adam Hocksley's daughter or not.
All she cared about was Alan Neil.
I still don't understand why she killed him.
She didn't.
Now wait a second.
You told me she phoned you and confessed.
You're always jumping to conclusions.
First, you think my client is guilty.
Now you're willing to concede she isn't.
Then you think Miriam Hocksley is guilty, and pretty soon you're gonna concede she isn't guilty either.
You know, I saw that.
How did it happen? The first bullet she fired at Neil must've gone wild.
He was in bed asleep when he was killed.
Now where was Miriam standing when she fired this shot? Suppose you draw me a diagram.
I'd be glad to, lieutenant.
But first, let's pay a little visit to clear up something for me.
Oh, I think you'd better get Burger in on this too.
I do not understand.
It is very late.
What happened? Another murder.
LOONG: What? - Who? - Alan Neil.
Alan? Why? How could it be? Doris Hocksley is still in custody, isn't she? Don't ask us, Mr.
Mason's running this show.
I thought you might be quite upset, Miss Gentrie.
Bride and groom practically on their honeymoon.
The bride shoots the bridegroom and then turns the gun on herself.
- Is that what happened? - No.
But it was supposed to look as though that had happened.
You see, Miss Gentrie, you made two mistakes.
I resent this, Mr.
Mason.
I don't know what you're trying to do.
No use in acting any longer, Rebecca.
Miriam Hocksley is alive.
[GASPS.]
That's right.
Miriam Hocksley is alive.
[LAUGHING.]
[CRYING.]
I loved him.
And he said he loved me.
He said it.
He said he loved me.
But he was lying.
He was lying all the time.
Do you understand? Do you understand? He said he loved me.
He said he loved me.
[SOBBING.]
Come on, Hamilton.
I'll buy you a drink.
Yeah.
And that's the story.
Carr caught her at the safe.
And to protect the plot, Rebecca killed him.
It was as simple as that.
Of course, she really ran into luck when Doris Hocksley walked in.
Just how did her luck run out? Rebecca was the only one who had my private phone number.
I told Della to give it to her when she phoned right after Carr's murder.
When I got the call the other night and the caller identified herself as Miriam Hocksley, why-- You knew it was a phoney.
When we found that slug embedded in the wall, in back of the picture, I knew how it got there.
It was the shot I heard over the phone.
It was purely a sound effect to make you think that Miriam had turned the gun on herself.
MASON: Mm.
Well, it just goes to show you.
What some women will do for a man is just plain murder.