Perry Mason (1957) s01e28 Episode Script
The Case of the Daring Decoy
Oh, Mr.
Conway.
- What are you doing in here? - Well, I-- - Where's Miss Eastman? - She just stepped out for a minute.
So did I but you stepped in.
What are you after in here? Nothing.
Nothing, Mr.
Conway, honestly.
Miss Eastman, why would Miss Calvert be in my office? I just straightened out your desk for you.
There wasn't anything to do outside.
I thought while you were out of your office, I'd just straighten out your desk for you.
How long has Miss Calvert been employed by us? A year.
Almost a year.
- What department before this? - Accounting.
No contact with Warner Griffith? Warner who? Miss Calvert wouldn't have had anything to do with Mr.
Griffith.
But perhaps we'd better send her back to Accounting.
Well, perhaps we'd better.
Hello, Warner? Warner, it's me, Rose.
I've got them, Warner.
The papers you wanted.
All right, I'll wait for you.
Period, paragraph.
We'll be able to take care of the new order of business in Texas as soon as the annual stockholders' meeting is out of the way.
That is providing that I'm re-elected, of course.
Miss Eastman, I've turned my files and this desk inside out.
Now there's no doubt that Rose Calvert has managed to steal the confidential Texas documents.
These are of great importance-- Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want? Amelia Armitage.
The outer door was open.
- To speak to you.
- Well, it's after-hours.
Well, I realise that but unfortunately, this can't wait.
What are you doing to protect yourself and the company against Warner Griffith? What do you know about Warner Griffith? Well, I know that you and Mr.
Griffith are fighting for control of Cal-Texas.
- Go on, madam.
- Therefore, Mr.
Conway, shouldn't you be doing something to combat Mr.
Griffith's activities? Something about getting yourself re-elected? There are 3,419 stockholders, including myself.
Most of them own a few shares, and they're dependent on the dividends they're paid.
Griffith would bleed them white.
And you help them.
Tell them your side.
Don't lose touch with them.
- Good night, Mr.
Conway.
- Wait a minute, madam-- - Mrs.
-- - Miss.
Miss.
I'm not married, Mr.
Conway.
Information, I'd like the night number of Cal-Texas Exploration.
It's on Wilshire.
Providing this meets with the approval of the board of directors, period, paragraph.
Also, regarding the-- [PHONE RINGS.]
Conway speaking.
WOMAN: Mr.
Conway, I have information which can be a tremendous help to you in your fight for control of Cal-Texas.
Oh, really? I've got a list of the proxies Warner Griffith has already obtained and the names of the stockholders who gave them to him.
Would it help? Of course it would.
Who is this speaking, please? I'm sorry.
I can't give you my name.
Do you know you are being followed? - Well, no.
- You are.
And I believe your phone is tapped.
That's why I've got to take precautions.
All right, what do you suggest? There are six phone booths in the Empire Drug at Wilton and La Brea.
Go to the one farthest from the door.
At exactly 8:15, that phone will ring.
Well, this is real cloak and dagger.
If nothing has gone wrong, that call at exactly 8:15 will direct you to me.
[PHONE RINGS.]
- Hello? WOMAN: Mr.
Conway? Speaking.
Meet me at the Hotel Redfern.
Room 709.
- When? - Now.
- Now, just a minute.
- Wanna lose everything to Griffith? I'll be there in ten minutes.
Seven, please.
Hello? Anybody in here? You walked down from the seventh floor, huh? Seventh floor, miss.
CONWAY: So my first thought was to get in touch with our corporation counsel.
I finally found Mr.
Varnell at the bar association dinner.
Rather a stroke of luck that you were sitting at the same table with me, Mason? I will tell you again how much Mr.
Conway appreciates this.
Smith & Wesson, .
38.
Serial number, C for Charlie, 48809.
Well, what do you think? I think it wasn't very bright of Mr.
Conway to remove the gun.
I told you.
I wasn't thinking clearly.
When I recognised it as belonging to the company, I-- Well, I guess I panicked.
Well, how well did you know this Rose Calvert? Look, I didn't kill the girl.
I wasn't there more than two or three minutes at the most.
Now, was there--? Was there anyone in your office when you received this first phone call? No.
Did you see anyone at the drugstore who knew you? So there's actually no proof of those phone calls.
Whether you believe it or not, Mr.
Mason, a woman called me.
- I'm not making this up.
- Did you recognise her voice? Well, it sounded familiar.
I think I've heard it before.
Where? - Was it Rose Calvert's voice? - I don't think so.
What about that woman who walked into your office earlier this evening? - Do you recall her name? - Wait a minute.
Now I know why that voice sounded familiar.
It was Mrs.
Griffith.
Warner's wife? Well, that's impossible.
Maybe so, Varnell.
But it's the first thing that's made sense.
If Conway is being framed by Griffith, Griffith would have to use someone he could trust.
Della, get hold of Paul Drake.
See if he can locate Warner Griffith.
Have Paul turn this gun over to the police.
Really, Mason? Is that advisable? Well, it's evidence.
The police are entitled to it.
Well, you do what you feel is best.
Well, I think under the circumstances, we'd better get Mr.
Conway out of circulation for a while.
Someplace he can stay out of sight.
How about one of those motels on Tracy Boulevard? Good.
Mr.
Conway, you're to use your own car and register under your own name.
In the meantime, I wanna talk with Mrs.
Griffith.
Mason, I'm afraid it will be impossible for Mr.
Conway to do as you ask.
If he disappears now, he may lose control of Cal-Texas.
If he doesn't, he may lose his life.
You can't imagine how flattered I was to get a call from you, Mr.
Mason.
I've always been admirer of yours.
Well, thank you.
I know I must apologise for intruding so late in the evening, Mrs.
Griffith.
Not at all.
I'm flattered.
Now what can I do for you? You might start by telling me why you phoned my client, Dan Conway, earlier this evening and led him into a trap.
I did no such thing.
What gave you that idea? Now, Mrs.
Griffith, we're reasonably intelligent people.
You used a telephone.
Calls can be traced.
But I didn't use this-- I walked into it, didn't I? - Then you admit it? - What else can I do? Isn't it fortunate there were no witnesses? You intend to deny you made those phone calls to Conway? Of course.
All right.
Now, just for my own information, why did you send him to Room 709 of the Redfern Hotel? Why did I do what? This is no joking matter, Mrs.
Griffith.
A woman has been murdered.
- Who? - The police haven't identified her yet.
Well, what has all that to do with me? It has to do with your instructions to Conway.
I didn't have a chance to give him any instructions.
He was supposed to be at the Empire Drug at exactly 8:15 to get my call and he wasn't there.
- He was there.
He took a call.
- Not mine.
Someone pretending to be you? I thought his office phone was tapped.
Why would you wanna help Conway? Wouldn't that be against your husband's best interests? My husband's interests are no longer mine, Mr.
Mason.
- Where is Mr.
Griffith? - I haven't the slightest idea.
- Did you see him today? - No.
And the next time I see him, it'll be in court.
Take a look at that.
One of his hobbies is photography.
I won't comment on the other.
I found three poses like that in an undeveloped roll of film in his camera.
Fascinates you too, huh? When Warner left Cal-Texas, he employed this girl for some part-time work.
That proxy thing.
- What's her name? - Rose Calvert.
Mrs.
But she's separated from her husband.
Where does she do this part-time work? - At your husband's office? - I don't know.
But if you're interested, she lives at the Sorrento Arms.
Apartment 319.
Thank you.
Now, about those proxies for Dan Conway? - Well, I can't give them to him now.
- Why not? Well, if there's been a murder as you say-- There has.
Well, I can't afford to have anything come out that would jeopardise my position with my husband.
I'm gonna light up enough fireworks in court.
May I? I promise not to show it to your husband.
I don't know what you see in her.
She's the kind that'll run to fat in another ten years.
I don't think she'll have that problem now.
- Good night.
- Good night.
- Mr.
Calvert? - What do you want? Who are you? Name's Mason.
I'd like to talk to you.
This time of night? Who'd you say you are? Perry Mason.
It's very important, Mr.
Calvert.
Oh.
Yeah.
Now I place you.
You're a lawyer.
- If you're here about Rose, this is-- - I am.
Well, I'm not gonna give her a divorce.
I told her that.
Well, she'll come to her senses pretty quickly.
She has a good thing here with me.
See, this house is all paid for.
Not a cent of mortgage on it.
Oh, sure, she likes to have some fun and she's young.
I figure it's better to have your house paid for than to-- When did she leave you, Mr.
Calvert? lt'll be seven months, February 9.
I may have bad news for you.
- Bad news? - I'm trying to identify a woman who was murdered several hours ago in Los Angeles.
- Murdered? - It may have been your wife.
Murdered? Rose? - No, you're wrong.
- Perhaps I am.
I located you from a return address written on a letter sticking out of Mrs.
Calvert's mailbox at the Sorrento Arms.
MASON: Is this your wife? CALVERT: Yes.
Was she doing some modelling in L.
A.
? - Is that why she's dressed like this? - Possibly.
I shouldn't have let her leave me.
I figured if she got all that making fun out of her system, you see, then she'd still be here with me.
Murdered? This house is all paid for, not a cent of mortgage on it.
I told her just before she left.
I said, "Rose, the-- This is security for you, for the rest of your life.
" [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
Oh, I didn't expect you back from Ellendale until 4.
Traffic was light.
May I have some coffee? I could use a cup.
- I made a gallon.
- Trouble? - Mm-hm.
- Conway? Tragg has an all-points bulletin out for his arrest.
Where did you leave Conway? Glade Motel, Unit 22.
By the way, Paul says Tragg is raising you know what.
He wants to know where you got the gun.
- Where's Paul now? - In your office.
He has a friend with him.
Mr.
Warner Griffith.
Shall I get my pad? No, no, you don't.
You've done enough today.
Stay at home.
- Who's going to do your dishes? - You will.
Tomorrow.
- Now, good night.
- Good night.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
- Hi, Perry.
- Mr.
Griffith, Mr.
Mason.
This is a great pleasure, Mr.
Mason.
I understand you've been looking for me.
Yes, I have.
I hope I won't seem presumptuous if I ask why.
Haven't you read the Sunrise edition of the paper? I assume you're referring to the murder in Room 709.
I'm referring to the murder of Rose Calvert.
You must have recognised her.
Why didn't you go to the police? Well, I just saw the headlines as I got to my club.
Mr.
Drake was waiting for me.
I thought I was being very cooperative in coming here.
Did you know Rose Calvert while you were associated with the Cal-Texas Company? Why, of course.
MASON: Who paid for Room 709 at the Hotel Redfern? Why did Rose Calvert register under an alias? - Why did she, Mason? - I have a theory.
Be my guest.
A theory that you might be the murderer.
Oh, really? A theory that you used Rose Calvert as your contact in Conway's office, that she finally delivered the goods, that your relationship with Rose was a great deal more intimate than that of employer-employee.
That your wife found out about it and threatened you with a divorce.
That you realised at that moment that Rose Calvert was no longer useful to you but was actually a liability.
- What time was Calvert murdered? - Paul? Coroner established it between 7:30 and 8:30 p.
m.
Now, isn't that a shame? Your beautiful theory right out the window.
My plane reservations.
I've been in Phoenix, Arizona, since early yesterday morning.
Just got back about 1:00.
How could I have killed her from Phoenix? Unless I stuck pins in a voodoo doll.
Did she die that way, Mason? [INTERCOM BUZZES.]
Yes? MAN [OVER INTERCOM.]
: Mr.
Burger, Lieutenant Tragg and Mr.
Mason are on their way in.
Good.
Sit down, Mason.
Thank you.
And thank you for sending Lieutenant Tragg to issue a personal invitation.
I just wanted to make sure you got it.
I'm gonna ask you some questions, Mason.
I want some straight answers.
Where's Daniel Conway? As a matter of fact, I don't know.
I haven't spoken with him this morning.
- Next question? - The gun.
It checks out as the murder weapon.
How did you get it? That information is confidential for the time being.
Uh-huh.
Oh, yeah? Right in form, Mason.
Misusing the basic safeguards of the law to suit your own purposes.
I turned the gun over to Lieutenant Tragg as soon as I learned it was a possible murder weapon.
And withheld the identity of the deceased.
I didn't know her identity, not positively.
Would you have me speculate on a matter like that? I'd have you smelling brimstone through a nail hole if it was up to me.
And that may be just closer than you think.
Because this time, Lieutenant Tragg and I figured the way you'd figure, Mason.
You wouldn't send your client out of town.
That would be resorting to flight.
You wouldn't try to hide him under an alias, that would be secreting.
No, the way you'd figure it, the best way to conceal your client would be to have him register at a middle-class motel using his right name and driving his own car.
Lieutenant? Believe me, Perry, we've looked high and low and we just can't find that girl.
You've gotta find her, Paul.
She didn't barge into Conway's office on the night of the murder just by chance.
Stranger things have happened.
Well, how would she know Conway was there? It was after-hours.
Everyone else in the building-- [INTERCOM BUZZES.]
- Yes? DELLA: I'm sorry to bother you but there's a Miss Amelia Armitage here to see you.
- Armitage? - She's a stockholder in Cal-Texas.
Well, tell her to see Mr.
Varnell.
He's their company's attorney.
- We've our own headaches.
- Maybe she can solve them.
She claims she's the one who talked to Conway in his office that night.
Now, do you still want her to see Varnell? Bring her right in, Della.
- You want me to shove off? - No, no, you stay.
- Get a chair, will you, Paul? - Sure.
MASON: Come in, please.
Mr.
Mason, I really appreciate this.
I know how busy you are.
Miss Armitage, Mr.
Drake.
- How do you do? - Great.
- Sit down, won't you? - Thank you.
I understand you go to trial on Thursday.
Yes, we do.
- How are Mr.
Conway's chances? - Excellent.
I'm so glad.
He impressed me as being a very bright and intelligent man.
He is.
I understand you were in Mr.
Conway's office on the night of the murder.
- That's right.
- What time was this? Well, it was around 7:00.
Just as I was leaving the office, the telephone rang.
Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I did a little eavesdropping.
I heard Mr.
Conway make that appointment to go to the drugstore.
Go on.
It sounded so intriguing, I followed him there.
Now, I saw him enter a phone booth and I believe it was the second one from the end.
After few seconds, the phone rang.
What time was that? Around ten after 8.
Miss Armitage, would you be willing to tell that story on the stand? Of course.
I've already told Mr.
Burger, the district attorney.
Have you? What did he say? Well, he suggested that I come and talk to you.
I see.
Thank you very much for coming by.
What's wrong? You read about those phone calls in the paper.
I did not.
Do you realise if you told that story on the stand, you'd be guilty of perjury? I know that Mr.
Conway is innocent.
How? Well, I-- I just know it, that's all.
I'm afraid our courts don't recognise womanly intuition as evidence.
Thank you again, Miss Armitage.
I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mr.
Mason.
- I'll see you out.
- No, please don't bother.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
She was only trying to help.
That kind of help could put Conway in the gas chamber.
What made you suspect she was lying? Her story about the phone call wasn't quite correct.
And when she said Burger send her over here Well, I learned long ago to look Mr.
Burger's gift horses right in the mouth.
- Check on that girl, Paul.
- Yeah.
I'm going over to see Conway.
And we will prove that the defendant, Daniel Conway, did wilfully murder Rose Calvert on the night of January 20th.
That he went to her hotel room with just that thought in mind.
After you've heard the evidence, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the state will ask you for a verdict of murder in the first degree.
Then the morgue attendant asked me if I recognised the body.
It was Rose.
My wife.
When did you first learn of Mrs.
Calvert's death? Well, a man came to see me around midnight.
He had a picture of Rose and I don't know where he got it but he said that she was murdered.
I couldn't believe it, so I got in touch with the sheriff's office.
And you told the sheriff that this midnight visitor had showed you a picture which you identified as your wife? Yes, sir.
And I wanted to find out whether it was true that she was murdered.
Because that's what your midnight visitor had told you? Yes, sir.
That's all.
I have no questions of this witness but I will stipulate I was the midnight visitor referred to by the prosecution.
You may step down, Mr.
Calvert.
We received an anonymous tip and were checking it out.
We found the body in Room 709 of the Hotel Redfern at about 8:40 on the evening of January 20th.
- Did you find any fingerprints? - Just one set.
A right hand on the desk chair.
- Could you identify those prints? - Yes, we did.
They belonged to Daniel Conway, the defendant.
BURGER: Lieutenant, since there was only one set of prints found in a whole room, and since the defendant has the customary two hands, couldn't we assume that he made every possible effort to remove all evidence of his visit to Room 709? I object, Your Honour, as calling for a conclusion from the witness.
Sustained.
Later that same night, lieutenant, did you receive a package containing a Smith & Wesson .
38 calibre revolver? I did.
Is this the gun in question? Yes, it is.
Perhaps the jury would care to examine the exhibit.
BURGER: You have heard Mr.
Fred Calvert testify the verification of the identity of the deceased was made by Mr.
Mason at about 12:00? TRAGG: Yes, yes, sir.
BURGER: When did you receive news of that verification? About 7:00, the following morning.
I presume you received it from Mr.
Mason? No, I did not.
I got it from Mr.
Fred Calvert.
Your Honour, I object to this whole line of questioning.
Immaterial, irrelevant and certainly incompetent.
Mr.
Burger, if you are insinuating that Mr.
Mason withheld information from the police, that's another matter than the one we're concerned with and I uphold Mr.
Mason's objection.
I have no further questions for this witness.
Lieutenant Tragg, a rather pointed implication has just been made concerning my behaviour in this case.
An implication that I've been guilty of misconduct.
I think we ought to clarify that issue, don't you? Yes, I do.
Now when you first spoke to Mr.
Calvert, what exactly did he say? Well, he told me that you showed him a picture of his wife.
Did he tell you at that time that I knew it was his wife? - No, no.
- Of course not.
Because I had no way of knowing at that time that the deceased was Rose Calvert or that she was the wife of Fred Calvert.
I thought if she were, her husband would go to the morgue and identify her, which apparently, is just exactly what he did.
If you want me to say that you did what any cooperative citizen would have done-- Well, didn't I, lieutenant? - What did you say, lieutenant? - Yes.
Thank you, lieutenant.
Miss Jordan, you are employed as an elevator operator at the Hotel Redfern? Yes, sir.
And you have identified Daniel Conway as having visited that hotel on the evening of January 20.
Yes, sir.
I remember I was reading a book at the time and I let him off on the seventh floor.
- What time of day was this? - Around 8:30.
Thank you.
Miss Jordan, you say you were reading a book when you took the defendant to the seventh floor? That's right.
- What was the name of this book? - You Could Die Laughing.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
- Was it interesting? - Very.
I couldn't put it down.
If you couldn't put the book down, how could you possibly recognise the defendant's face? Thank you, Miss Jordan.
That's all.
Your Honour, I have a question on redirect.
Miss Jordan, you didn't say that you recognised the defendant by his face, did you? - No, sir.
- How did you recognise him? By his feet.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
By his feet? Yes, sir.
You see, I sit all day at the elevator controls and I read when I'm not too busy, which I'm never too busy anyway.
So mostly, I see shoes and feet, so it's kind of a hobby.
I study them.
Have you any documentation for this unusual ability? Well, not outside of the tests they made of me at Stanford.
What were the findings of these tests? They called me phenomenal, a quirk of nature.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
Of course, there was the write-up of me in Timeweek when all those professors from The University of Chicago came to the hotel and-- That's all, Miss Jordan, I think-- Of course, it was really easy with him because I dropped him on the seventh floor and a little while later, I picked him up on the sixth floor.
And I said to him, "You walked down a flight, didn't you?" That's all, Miss Jordan.
Thank you very much.
You may step down.
I call Warner Griffith.
Mr.
Griffith, you were a member of the board of directors of the Cal-Texas Explorations, is that so? Until about four months ago.
And you had certain policy disagreements with the president and chairman of the board, Mr.
Daniel Conway? - That is correct.
- I see.
Now, Mr.
Griffith, did you employ the deceased, Rose Calvert, as a part-time secretary - after you left Cal-Texas? - That's right.
What kind of work was this, Mr.
Griffith? - Confidential? - Extremely.
Having to do with proxies you were gathering for the upcoming meeting? Yes, sir.
But that wasn't the most important work.
There was something a great deal more valuable.
A great deal.
And what was that? A white paper.
Having to do with certain investigations I had been making of Conway's recent field trip and other information Rose Calvert supplied me.
Would you tell us about this information and these investigations, please, Mr.
Griffith? Objection, Your Honour, in addition to the question being incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant, it also calls for hearsay testimony.
It seems to me, Mr.
Mason, that this goes to the question of motivation and I will, therefore, allow it.
Your objection overruled.
Go ahead, Mr.
Griffith.
The white paper concerned evidence that Conway was turning over to our competitors information of oil leases, which Cal-Texas has spent thousands of dollars to compile.
Let me state the proposition, Mr.
Griffith.
It would be a matter of vital importance to Daniel Conway to know how much proof you had against him, to know how much information Rose Calvert had taken from his office, wouldn't it? GRIFFITH: Yes.
- Your Honour-- Mrs.
Calvert kept this white paper hidden at her place of work, - Room 709 at the Hotel Redfern? - Yes.
So anybody looking for it would tear the place apart in order to find it.
- Yes.
- Objection.
Your Honour, I've tried to be patient during this interrogation but the district attorney has consistently been leading the witness, calling for opinion.
You are quite right, Mr.
Mason.
You will refrain from this type of questioning, Mr.
Burger.
But, Your Honour, we have already proven that the white paper represented a threat to one man and to only one man, Daniel Conway.
And that only Daniel Conway knew that Rose Calvert had stolen from it.
That's right.
She could've ruined him.
That's why he killed her.
[BANGING GAVEL.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
[BUZZER SOUNDING.]
Hello, I thought you were going to come alone.
I brought Mavis along for a little experiment.
- What kind of an experiment? - You heard her testify in court today that she could identify people by their feet or shoes.
- Yes, I heard it.
- That's what I'd like her to test.
- Not here, you're not.
- Why not, Mrs.
Griffith? Because I don't want her messing around in my closet.
We'll either do this here tonight or in court tomorrow.
Now it's up to you.
All right, go ahead.
Where are your shoes? Here.
That's them.
These are the ones she wore the day of the murder? Hey, what is this? Yeah, she got out on the seventh floor.
She's got a good, sturdy step.
She doesn't wobble like most women.
- Seventh floor? What seventh floor? - It won't do, Mrs.
Griffith.
You were at the Hotel Redfern on the night of the murder.
What's more, you were in Room 709 and you searched Room 709.
Well? How can she remember that it was that pair? - Why did you go to that hotel? - I-- To have it out with Rose Calvert.
I wasn't going to let her take my husband without a fight.
Even if the fight came to murder? No, no.
I found her dead.
I didn't kill her and that's the truth.
Is it? I went up there so angry at Warner.
I wouldn't have cared if he'd been skewered alive.
I hated him.
And then I saw her dead and I thought, "Warner did it.
What can I do?" In one second, I hated him and the next, I had to protect him.
Somehow, I had to make sure the police didn't think of him.
So you telephoned Daniel Conway.
[CRYING.]
Yes.
You telephoned him both times.
You tricked him into going to the hotel.
- Yes.
- You turned the room upside down looking for evidence that might link your husband with the murder.
- Did you find some? - No.
No, of course not.
Warner Griffith wouldn't be so careless as to leave evidence around.
Then you wiped the room clean of fingerprints and then you telephoned the police so they might find Conway with the body.
Now, do you still say you hate your husband, Mrs.
Griffith? But it wasn't Warner, Mr.
Mason.
He was in Phoenix, he said.
I know.
I know that's what he said.
Come on, Mavis.
[SOBBING.]
[CROWD CHATTERING.]
Perry, there's no doubt Griffith was in Phoenix.
- No doubt? - None.
My operative checked.
He was there, all right.
Your hunch was right too.
Time in Phoenix unaccounted for? Uh-huh.
About 6 to 11 the evening of the murder.
Check on that 6 to 11, will you, Paul? Okay.
CLERK: All rise, please.
This court is now in session.
Mr.
Griffith.
Your white paper states that company information was delivered into the hands of competitors by Daniel Conway.
That's correct.
Did this information have to do with certain fine buying opportunities? You bet, it did.
Then wouldn't it had been good business franchise for Cal-Texas to have made arrangements with a few smaller companies in order to buy these lands and leases for Cal-Texas? And wasn't that, in truth, exactly what Daniel Conway was doing? Well, if Conway was manipulating things like that, it wasn't apparent to me.
It's rather an obvious business manoeuvre, isn't it? As a man who aspires to be president of Cal-Texas, it should be obvious to you, shouldn't it? Well, there are wheels within wheels.
Indeed there are.
Several thousand people are involved in the Cal-Texas findings and explorations.
To satisfy your own personal ambitions, you have caused them to sacrifice, in part, some of their security, for with this smear of Conway, the market value of their stock has depreciated.
- Now that's true, isn't it, Mr.
Griffith? - Well, I-- Well? Is it, Mr.
Griffith? Your Honour, this is unfair.
This is putting me in a most embarrassing position.
It seems to me you've placed yourself in this position.
Answer counsel's question.
- Yes.
- Then actually, this white paper was just a cheap trick to discredit Daniel Conway and could not possibly have been a motive for Rose Calvert's murder.
Now if there was one thing in that white paper besides what I've mentioned, tell the jury and tell them now.
Your Honour, I object.
This question has already been asked and answered.
I think counsel is entitled to a direct statement from the witness.
But we don't have to belabour the point, do we, Mr.
Mason? It needed stating, Your Honour.
I'm satisfied.
Now, Mr.
Griffith, you were aware that a gun had been purchased by the Accounting Department while you were still with Cal-Texas? Yes.
And Rose Calvert worked in the Accounting Department? - Yes.
- Have you seen that gun recently? - I don't mean in court yesterday.
- Yes.
Was that gun in the possession of Rose Calvert? Yes.
She had taken it from the Cal-Texas office.
Now, did she keep it in Room 709 at the Redfern Hotel? - I don't know.
- Did she give it to you to hold for her? - No.
- But you did have access to it? Yes, I guess so.
Rose Calvert was an attractive woman.
Was there anything between you other than a business relationship? Your Honour, I object.
Mr.
Griffith is not on trial.
Your Honour, I contend this is within the scope of cross-examination.
I'm going to sustain this objection.
Very well.
Mr.
Griffith, did you see Rose Calvert on the day she was murdered? I was in Phoenix, Arizona.
There are five hours unaccounted for on your day in Phoenix, from 6 to 11.
You had time to hire a private plane, fly here, return to Phoenix in time to catch the scheduled flight back to Los Angeles.
Well, that's ridiculous.
I did no such thing.
Do you deny seeing Rose Calvert or visiting her on the day she was murdered? The closest I came to visiting her was when I had returned from Phoenix early in the morning.
I went to Rose's apartment house, the Sorrento Arms.
She was suppose to wait up for me.
But she wasn't there.
Did you take a letter from her mailbox at the Sorrento Arms? No.
Mr.
Griffith, there's testimony that a letter was sent to Rose Calvert and that it was in her mailbox on the day she was murdered.
And that letter seems to have disappeared.
Now, remembering you are still under oath, I ask you once again.
Did you examine that mailbox and did you remove such a letter? I did not.
I can't say that I acted like a gentleman in this thing but I didn't remove any letter.
And I didn't kill her.
Your Honour, if I may recall a previous witness, I believe I can prove someone is lying.
Your Honour, I don't see why we must have any more irregularity in the conduct of this trial.
Mr.
Mason has gone far afield already.
- What witness, Mr.
Mason? - Fred Calvert.
I see no reason why he can't be recalled.
Fred Calvert will please come forward.
You may step down, Mr.
Griffith.
The witness needn't be sworn in again.
He's still under oath.
Mr.
Calvert, when I went to visit you on the night of Rose's murder, I told you I had gotten your address from your wife's mailbox.
Do you remember that? - No.
No, I don't.
- You don't remember that? Well, there were so many things happening, so many things.
But it was just about midnight when I got to your house, wasn't it? Midnight? Yes.
And when I left, what did you do? Well, I went to the sheriff in Ellendale and we drove to L.
A.
and I identified my wife, Rose.
That was about 7:00 in the morning, wasn't it? - Yes, about 7:00.
- But that's almost seven hours.
I drove from Los Angeles to your house in just about an hour.
Why did it take you all that time? Well, it did, you know? Was there something else you had to do before you went to see the sheriff in Ellendale? No.
What was in that letter, Mr.
Calvert? Did you threaten your wife because she had fallen in love - with Warner Griffith? - Nope.
There was something in that letter that would direct suspicion toward you so that you had to drive to Los Angeles, pick up the letter and then drive back to Ellendale.
- That's what took so long, isn't it? - No.
You did a lot of travelling on the day of the murder.
All right, you won't leave me alone, I did it.
[CROWD CHATTERING.]
What did you do, Mr.
Calvert? I did go and get that letter.
But not for what you said.
It was because I wanted that deed back.
What deed? To my house.
I sent it to her because I thought that if I gave her my house, she'd come back to me.
But when she died-- Why should her relatives get my house? Why did you keep denying that you went after that letter, Mr.
Calvert? Well.
It's against the law tampering with the mails, you know.
Besides, it was my letter to begin with.
Why should I wanna kill her? I wanted her back.
I loved her.
But she wasn't coming back.
You found that out when you went to the Hotel Redfern, Room 709, earlier that night.
- About 7:45, to be exact, wasn't it? - No.
Maybe you didn't intend killing her.
Maybe you just wanted to plead with her.
No, no.
But she wasn't going to come back to you.
She got angry with you.
Did she threaten you with that gun? What gun? The gun she kept in her hotel room.
The murder weapon.
No.
You keep saying no, just as you did previously.
But you don't mean it now any more than you meant it before, do you? Your Honour, I protest.
You took that gun away from her.
You suddenly got angry with her.
After all, you'd given her your house, your mortgage-free house.
Everything she could want in life.
Now-- Maybe the gun went off just by accident.
Just by accident? No.
Your Honour, this is pure conjecture on the part of the defence counsel.
Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
Your Honour, I ask the court's indulgence.
What for, Mr.
Mason? I'd like the witness to step down to clarify a point of identification.
All right.
Step down, Mr.
Calvert.
Would you stand here in front of the jury, please? Miss Mavis Jordan, please.
Miss Jordan is the elevator operator at the Hotel Redfern.
I'd like her to look at your shoes, if you don't mind.
I loved my wife.
Honest, I did, Mr.
Mason.
Just a moment, Miss Jordan.
I don't think we'll need your identification.
I thought she'd come to her senses and come back to me.
She wouldn't.
She was willing to give up everything.
Even the house.
Then you went to that hotel room and you killed her.
Yes.
The way you said it, Mr.
Mason.
Almost exactly the way you said.
[CHUCKLES.]
- You know what's the funny thing? - What's that, Perry? Well, Calvert standing in front of the jury.
- Mavis staring at his shoes.
- Yes.
Why didn't you let her finish her identification? - He couldn't.
- Well, why? She couldn't.
Calvert was wearing a different pair of shoes.
[LAUGHS.]
Well, I'm glad there's a happy ending.
- Hello.
- Oh, hello, there.
I know I should apologise for intruding but I just want to say congratulations.
Oh, thank you very much.
I still have the stockholders' meeting ahead of me, - but won't you sit down? - Thank you.
You don't have to worry about that stockholders' meeting, Mr.
Conway.
- Well, why not, Miss--? - Armitage.
Amelia Armitage.
Wait a minute.
Are you from Running Springs, Texas? - That's right.
- Oh, then your family owns 37-- Thirty-seven percent of the controlling shares of Cal-Texas.
Well, looks like you have it made, young fellow.
I think we'd better be going.
- Good luck, Mr.
Conway.
CONWAY: Thank you.
- Good night, Miss Armitage.
- Good night.
He's about 33, isn't he? That's a good age for her, don't you think? What are you up to now, Miss Fix-it? Well, I just thought since they were both very interested in Cal-Texas, it would be a good time for a merger.
Oh, come on.
Conway.
- What are you doing in here? - Well, I-- - Where's Miss Eastman? - She just stepped out for a minute.
So did I but you stepped in.
What are you after in here? Nothing.
Nothing, Mr.
Conway, honestly.
Miss Eastman, why would Miss Calvert be in my office? I just straightened out your desk for you.
There wasn't anything to do outside.
I thought while you were out of your office, I'd just straighten out your desk for you.
How long has Miss Calvert been employed by us? A year.
Almost a year.
- What department before this? - Accounting.
No contact with Warner Griffith? Warner who? Miss Calvert wouldn't have had anything to do with Mr.
Griffith.
But perhaps we'd better send her back to Accounting.
Well, perhaps we'd better.
Hello, Warner? Warner, it's me, Rose.
I've got them, Warner.
The papers you wanted.
All right, I'll wait for you.
Period, paragraph.
We'll be able to take care of the new order of business in Texas as soon as the annual stockholders' meeting is out of the way.
That is providing that I'm re-elected, of course.
Miss Eastman, I've turned my files and this desk inside out.
Now there's no doubt that Rose Calvert has managed to steal the confidential Texas documents.
These are of great importance-- Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want? Amelia Armitage.
The outer door was open.
- To speak to you.
- Well, it's after-hours.
Well, I realise that but unfortunately, this can't wait.
What are you doing to protect yourself and the company against Warner Griffith? What do you know about Warner Griffith? Well, I know that you and Mr.
Griffith are fighting for control of Cal-Texas.
- Go on, madam.
- Therefore, Mr.
Conway, shouldn't you be doing something to combat Mr.
Griffith's activities? Something about getting yourself re-elected? There are 3,419 stockholders, including myself.
Most of them own a few shares, and they're dependent on the dividends they're paid.
Griffith would bleed them white.
And you help them.
Tell them your side.
Don't lose touch with them.
- Good night, Mr.
Conway.
- Wait a minute, madam-- - Mrs.
-- - Miss.
Miss.
I'm not married, Mr.
Conway.
Information, I'd like the night number of Cal-Texas Exploration.
It's on Wilshire.
Providing this meets with the approval of the board of directors, period, paragraph.
Also, regarding the-- [PHONE RINGS.]
Conway speaking.
WOMAN: Mr.
Conway, I have information which can be a tremendous help to you in your fight for control of Cal-Texas.
Oh, really? I've got a list of the proxies Warner Griffith has already obtained and the names of the stockholders who gave them to him.
Would it help? Of course it would.
Who is this speaking, please? I'm sorry.
I can't give you my name.
Do you know you are being followed? - Well, no.
- You are.
And I believe your phone is tapped.
That's why I've got to take precautions.
All right, what do you suggest? There are six phone booths in the Empire Drug at Wilton and La Brea.
Go to the one farthest from the door.
At exactly 8:15, that phone will ring.
Well, this is real cloak and dagger.
If nothing has gone wrong, that call at exactly 8:15 will direct you to me.
[PHONE RINGS.]
- Hello? WOMAN: Mr.
Conway? Speaking.
Meet me at the Hotel Redfern.
Room 709.
- When? - Now.
- Now, just a minute.
- Wanna lose everything to Griffith? I'll be there in ten minutes.
Seven, please.
Hello? Anybody in here? You walked down from the seventh floor, huh? Seventh floor, miss.
CONWAY: So my first thought was to get in touch with our corporation counsel.
I finally found Mr.
Varnell at the bar association dinner.
Rather a stroke of luck that you were sitting at the same table with me, Mason? I will tell you again how much Mr.
Conway appreciates this.
Smith & Wesson, .
38.
Serial number, C for Charlie, 48809.
Well, what do you think? I think it wasn't very bright of Mr.
Conway to remove the gun.
I told you.
I wasn't thinking clearly.
When I recognised it as belonging to the company, I-- Well, I guess I panicked.
Well, how well did you know this Rose Calvert? Look, I didn't kill the girl.
I wasn't there more than two or three minutes at the most.
Now, was there--? Was there anyone in your office when you received this first phone call? No.
Did you see anyone at the drugstore who knew you? So there's actually no proof of those phone calls.
Whether you believe it or not, Mr.
Mason, a woman called me.
- I'm not making this up.
- Did you recognise her voice? Well, it sounded familiar.
I think I've heard it before.
Where? - Was it Rose Calvert's voice? - I don't think so.
What about that woman who walked into your office earlier this evening? - Do you recall her name? - Wait a minute.
Now I know why that voice sounded familiar.
It was Mrs.
Griffith.
Warner's wife? Well, that's impossible.
Maybe so, Varnell.
But it's the first thing that's made sense.
If Conway is being framed by Griffith, Griffith would have to use someone he could trust.
Della, get hold of Paul Drake.
See if he can locate Warner Griffith.
Have Paul turn this gun over to the police.
Really, Mason? Is that advisable? Well, it's evidence.
The police are entitled to it.
Well, you do what you feel is best.
Well, I think under the circumstances, we'd better get Mr.
Conway out of circulation for a while.
Someplace he can stay out of sight.
How about one of those motels on Tracy Boulevard? Good.
Mr.
Conway, you're to use your own car and register under your own name.
In the meantime, I wanna talk with Mrs.
Griffith.
Mason, I'm afraid it will be impossible for Mr.
Conway to do as you ask.
If he disappears now, he may lose control of Cal-Texas.
If he doesn't, he may lose his life.
You can't imagine how flattered I was to get a call from you, Mr.
Mason.
I've always been admirer of yours.
Well, thank you.
I know I must apologise for intruding so late in the evening, Mrs.
Griffith.
Not at all.
I'm flattered.
Now what can I do for you? You might start by telling me why you phoned my client, Dan Conway, earlier this evening and led him into a trap.
I did no such thing.
What gave you that idea? Now, Mrs.
Griffith, we're reasonably intelligent people.
You used a telephone.
Calls can be traced.
But I didn't use this-- I walked into it, didn't I? - Then you admit it? - What else can I do? Isn't it fortunate there were no witnesses? You intend to deny you made those phone calls to Conway? Of course.
All right.
Now, just for my own information, why did you send him to Room 709 of the Redfern Hotel? Why did I do what? This is no joking matter, Mrs.
Griffith.
A woman has been murdered.
- Who? - The police haven't identified her yet.
Well, what has all that to do with me? It has to do with your instructions to Conway.
I didn't have a chance to give him any instructions.
He was supposed to be at the Empire Drug at exactly 8:15 to get my call and he wasn't there.
- He was there.
He took a call.
- Not mine.
Someone pretending to be you? I thought his office phone was tapped.
Why would you wanna help Conway? Wouldn't that be against your husband's best interests? My husband's interests are no longer mine, Mr.
Mason.
- Where is Mr.
Griffith? - I haven't the slightest idea.
- Did you see him today? - No.
And the next time I see him, it'll be in court.
Take a look at that.
One of his hobbies is photography.
I won't comment on the other.
I found three poses like that in an undeveloped roll of film in his camera.
Fascinates you too, huh? When Warner left Cal-Texas, he employed this girl for some part-time work.
That proxy thing.
- What's her name? - Rose Calvert.
Mrs.
But she's separated from her husband.
Where does she do this part-time work? - At your husband's office? - I don't know.
But if you're interested, she lives at the Sorrento Arms.
Apartment 319.
Thank you.
Now, about those proxies for Dan Conway? - Well, I can't give them to him now.
- Why not? Well, if there's been a murder as you say-- There has.
Well, I can't afford to have anything come out that would jeopardise my position with my husband.
I'm gonna light up enough fireworks in court.
May I? I promise not to show it to your husband.
I don't know what you see in her.
She's the kind that'll run to fat in another ten years.
I don't think she'll have that problem now.
- Good night.
- Good night.
- Mr.
Calvert? - What do you want? Who are you? Name's Mason.
I'd like to talk to you.
This time of night? Who'd you say you are? Perry Mason.
It's very important, Mr.
Calvert.
Oh.
Yeah.
Now I place you.
You're a lawyer.
- If you're here about Rose, this is-- - I am.
Well, I'm not gonna give her a divorce.
I told her that.
Well, she'll come to her senses pretty quickly.
She has a good thing here with me.
See, this house is all paid for.
Not a cent of mortgage on it.
Oh, sure, she likes to have some fun and she's young.
I figure it's better to have your house paid for than to-- When did she leave you, Mr.
Calvert? lt'll be seven months, February 9.
I may have bad news for you.
- Bad news? - I'm trying to identify a woman who was murdered several hours ago in Los Angeles.
- Murdered? - It may have been your wife.
Murdered? Rose? - No, you're wrong.
- Perhaps I am.
I located you from a return address written on a letter sticking out of Mrs.
Calvert's mailbox at the Sorrento Arms.
MASON: Is this your wife? CALVERT: Yes.
Was she doing some modelling in L.
A.
? - Is that why she's dressed like this? - Possibly.
I shouldn't have let her leave me.
I figured if she got all that making fun out of her system, you see, then she'd still be here with me.
Murdered? This house is all paid for, not a cent of mortgage on it.
I told her just before she left.
I said, "Rose, the-- This is security for you, for the rest of your life.
" [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
Oh, I didn't expect you back from Ellendale until 4.
Traffic was light.
May I have some coffee? I could use a cup.
- I made a gallon.
- Trouble? - Mm-hm.
- Conway? Tragg has an all-points bulletin out for his arrest.
Where did you leave Conway? Glade Motel, Unit 22.
By the way, Paul says Tragg is raising you know what.
He wants to know where you got the gun.
- Where's Paul now? - In your office.
He has a friend with him.
Mr.
Warner Griffith.
Shall I get my pad? No, no, you don't.
You've done enough today.
Stay at home.
- Who's going to do your dishes? - You will.
Tomorrow.
- Now, good night.
- Good night.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
- Hi, Perry.
- Mr.
Griffith, Mr.
Mason.
This is a great pleasure, Mr.
Mason.
I understand you've been looking for me.
Yes, I have.
I hope I won't seem presumptuous if I ask why.
Haven't you read the Sunrise edition of the paper? I assume you're referring to the murder in Room 709.
I'm referring to the murder of Rose Calvert.
You must have recognised her.
Why didn't you go to the police? Well, I just saw the headlines as I got to my club.
Mr.
Drake was waiting for me.
I thought I was being very cooperative in coming here.
Did you know Rose Calvert while you were associated with the Cal-Texas Company? Why, of course.
MASON: Who paid for Room 709 at the Hotel Redfern? Why did Rose Calvert register under an alias? - Why did she, Mason? - I have a theory.
Be my guest.
A theory that you might be the murderer.
Oh, really? A theory that you used Rose Calvert as your contact in Conway's office, that she finally delivered the goods, that your relationship with Rose was a great deal more intimate than that of employer-employee.
That your wife found out about it and threatened you with a divorce.
That you realised at that moment that Rose Calvert was no longer useful to you but was actually a liability.
- What time was Calvert murdered? - Paul? Coroner established it between 7:30 and 8:30 p.
m.
Now, isn't that a shame? Your beautiful theory right out the window.
My plane reservations.
I've been in Phoenix, Arizona, since early yesterday morning.
Just got back about 1:00.
How could I have killed her from Phoenix? Unless I stuck pins in a voodoo doll.
Did she die that way, Mason? [INTERCOM BUZZES.]
Yes? MAN [OVER INTERCOM.]
: Mr.
Burger, Lieutenant Tragg and Mr.
Mason are on their way in.
Good.
Sit down, Mason.
Thank you.
And thank you for sending Lieutenant Tragg to issue a personal invitation.
I just wanted to make sure you got it.
I'm gonna ask you some questions, Mason.
I want some straight answers.
Where's Daniel Conway? As a matter of fact, I don't know.
I haven't spoken with him this morning.
- Next question? - The gun.
It checks out as the murder weapon.
How did you get it? That information is confidential for the time being.
Uh-huh.
Oh, yeah? Right in form, Mason.
Misusing the basic safeguards of the law to suit your own purposes.
I turned the gun over to Lieutenant Tragg as soon as I learned it was a possible murder weapon.
And withheld the identity of the deceased.
I didn't know her identity, not positively.
Would you have me speculate on a matter like that? I'd have you smelling brimstone through a nail hole if it was up to me.
And that may be just closer than you think.
Because this time, Lieutenant Tragg and I figured the way you'd figure, Mason.
You wouldn't send your client out of town.
That would be resorting to flight.
You wouldn't try to hide him under an alias, that would be secreting.
No, the way you'd figure it, the best way to conceal your client would be to have him register at a middle-class motel using his right name and driving his own car.
Lieutenant? Believe me, Perry, we've looked high and low and we just can't find that girl.
You've gotta find her, Paul.
She didn't barge into Conway's office on the night of the murder just by chance.
Stranger things have happened.
Well, how would she know Conway was there? It was after-hours.
Everyone else in the building-- [INTERCOM BUZZES.]
- Yes? DELLA: I'm sorry to bother you but there's a Miss Amelia Armitage here to see you.
- Armitage? - She's a stockholder in Cal-Texas.
Well, tell her to see Mr.
Varnell.
He's their company's attorney.
- We've our own headaches.
- Maybe she can solve them.
She claims she's the one who talked to Conway in his office that night.
Now, do you still want her to see Varnell? Bring her right in, Della.
- You want me to shove off? - No, no, you stay.
- Get a chair, will you, Paul? - Sure.
MASON: Come in, please.
Mr.
Mason, I really appreciate this.
I know how busy you are.
Miss Armitage, Mr.
Drake.
- How do you do? - Great.
- Sit down, won't you? - Thank you.
I understand you go to trial on Thursday.
Yes, we do.
- How are Mr.
Conway's chances? - Excellent.
I'm so glad.
He impressed me as being a very bright and intelligent man.
He is.
I understand you were in Mr.
Conway's office on the night of the murder.
- That's right.
- What time was this? Well, it was around 7:00.
Just as I was leaving the office, the telephone rang.
Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I did a little eavesdropping.
I heard Mr.
Conway make that appointment to go to the drugstore.
Go on.
It sounded so intriguing, I followed him there.
Now, I saw him enter a phone booth and I believe it was the second one from the end.
After few seconds, the phone rang.
What time was that? Around ten after 8.
Miss Armitage, would you be willing to tell that story on the stand? Of course.
I've already told Mr.
Burger, the district attorney.
Have you? What did he say? Well, he suggested that I come and talk to you.
I see.
Thank you very much for coming by.
What's wrong? You read about those phone calls in the paper.
I did not.
Do you realise if you told that story on the stand, you'd be guilty of perjury? I know that Mr.
Conway is innocent.
How? Well, I-- I just know it, that's all.
I'm afraid our courts don't recognise womanly intuition as evidence.
Thank you again, Miss Armitage.
I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mr.
Mason.
- I'll see you out.
- No, please don't bother.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
She was only trying to help.
That kind of help could put Conway in the gas chamber.
What made you suspect she was lying? Her story about the phone call wasn't quite correct.
And when she said Burger send her over here Well, I learned long ago to look Mr.
Burger's gift horses right in the mouth.
- Check on that girl, Paul.
- Yeah.
I'm going over to see Conway.
And we will prove that the defendant, Daniel Conway, did wilfully murder Rose Calvert on the night of January 20th.
That he went to her hotel room with just that thought in mind.
After you've heard the evidence, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the state will ask you for a verdict of murder in the first degree.
Then the morgue attendant asked me if I recognised the body.
It was Rose.
My wife.
When did you first learn of Mrs.
Calvert's death? Well, a man came to see me around midnight.
He had a picture of Rose and I don't know where he got it but he said that she was murdered.
I couldn't believe it, so I got in touch with the sheriff's office.
And you told the sheriff that this midnight visitor had showed you a picture which you identified as your wife? Yes, sir.
And I wanted to find out whether it was true that she was murdered.
Because that's what your midnight visitor had told you? Yes, sir.
That's all.
I have no questions of this witness but I will stipulate I was the midnight visitor referred to by the prosecution.
You may step down, Mr.
Calvert.
We received an anonymous tip and were checking it out.
We found the body in Room 709 of the Hotel Redfern at about 8:40 on the evening of January 20th.
- Did you find any fingerprints? - Just one set.
A right hand on the desk chair.
- Could you identify those prints? - Yes, we did.
They belonged to Daniel Conway, the defendant.
BURGER: Lieutenant, since there was only one set of prints found in a whole room, and since the defendant has the customary two hands, couldn't we assume that he made every possible effort to remove all evidence of his visit to Room 709? I object, Your Honour, as calling for a conclusion from the witness.
Sustained.
Later that same night, lieutenant, did you receive a package containing a Smith & Wesson .
38 calibre revolver? I did.
Is this the gun in question? Yes, it is.
Perhaps the jury would care to examine the exhibit.
BURGER: You have heard Mr.
Fred Calvert testify the verification of the identity of the deceased was made by Mr.
Mason at about 12:00? TRAGG: Yes, yes, sir.
BURGER: When did you receive news of that verification? About 7:00, the following morning.
I presume you received it from Mr.
Mason? No, I did not.
I got it from Mr.
Fred Calvert.
Your Honour, I object to this whole line of questioning.
Immaterial, irrelevant and certainly incompetent.
Mr.
Burger, if you are insinuating that Mr.
Mason withheld information from the police, that's another matter than the one we're concerned with and I uphold Mr.
Mason's objection.
I have no further questions for this witness.
Lieutenant Tragg, a rather pointed implication has just been made concerning my behaviour in this case.
An implication that I've been guilty of misconduct.
I think we ought to clarify that issue, don't you? Yes, I do.
Now when you first spoke to Mr.
Calvert, what exactly did he say? Well, he told me that you showed him a picture of his wife.
Did he tell you at that time that I knew it was his wife? - No, no.
- Of course not.
Because I had no way of knowing at that time that the deceased was Rose Calvert or that she was the wife of Fred Calvert.
I thought if she were, her husband would go to the morgue and identify her, which apparently, is just exactly what he did.
If you want me to say that you did what any cooperative citizen would have done-- Well, didn't I, lieutenant? - What did you say, lieutenant? - Yes.
Thank you, lieutenant.
Miss Jordan, you are employed as an elevator operator at the Hotel Redfern? Yes, sir.
And you have identified Daniel Conway as having visited that hotel on the evening of January 20.
Yes, sir.
I remember I was reading a book at the time and I let him off on the seventh floor.
- What time of day was this? - Around 8:30.
Thank you.
Miss Jordan, you say you were reading a book when you took the defendant to the seventh floor? That's right.
- What was the name of this book? - You Could Die Laughing.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
- Was it interesting? - Very.
I couldn't put it down.
If you couldn't put the book down, how could you possibly recognise the defendant's face? Thank you, Miss Jordan.
That's all.
Your Honour, I have a question on redirect.
Miss Jordan, you didn't say that you recognised the defendant by his face, did you? - No, sir.
- How did you recognise him? By his feet.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
By his feet? Yes, sir.
You see, I sit all day at the elevator controls and I read when I'm not too busy, which I'm never too busy anyway.
So mostly, I see shoes and feet, so it's kind of a hobby.
I study them.
Have you any documentation for this unusual ability? Well, not outside of the tests they made of me at Stanford.
What were the findings of these tests? They called me phenomenal, a quirk of nature.
[CROWD LAUGHING.]
Of course, there was the write-up of me in Timeweek when all those professors from The University of Chicago came to the hotel and-- That's all, Miss Jordan, I think-- Of course, it was really easy with him because I dropped him on the seventh floor and a little while later, I picked him up on the sixth floor.
And I said to him, "You walked down a flight, didn't you?" That's all, Miss Jordan.
Thank you very much.
You may step down.
I call Warner Griffith.
Mr.
Griffith, you were a member of the board of directors of the Cal-Texas Explorations, is that so? Until about four months ago.
And you had certain policy disagreements with the president and chairman of the board, Mr.
Daniel Conway? - That is correct.
- I see.
Now, Mr.
Griffith, did you employ the deceased, Rose Calvert, as a part-time secretary - after you left Cal-Texas? - That's right.
What kind of work was this, Mr.
Griffith? - Confidential? - Extremely.
Having to do with proxies you were gathering for the upcoming meeting? Yes, sir.
But that wasn't the most important work.
There was something a great deal more valuable.
A great deal.
And what was that? A white paper.
Having to do with certain investigations I had been making of Conway's recent field trip and other information Rose Calvert supplied me.
Would you tell us about this information and these investigations, please, Mr.
Griffith? Objection, Your Honour, in addition to the question being incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant, it also calls for hearsay testimony.
It seems to me, Mr.
Mason, that this goes to the question of motivation and I will, therefore, allow it.
Your objection overruled.
Go ahead, Mr.
Griffith.
The white paper concerned evidence that Conway was turning over to our competitors information of oil leases, which Cal-Texas has spent thousands of dollars to compile.
Let me state the proposition, Mr.
Griffith.
It would be a matter of vital importance to Daniel Conway to know how much proof you had against him, to know how much information Rose Calvert had taken from his office, wouldn't it? GRIFFITH: Yes.
- Your Honour-- Mrs.
Calvert kept this white paper hidden at her place of work, - Room 709 at the Hotel Redfern? - Yes.
So anybody looking for it would tear the place apart in order to find it.
- Yes.
- Objection.
Your Honour, I've tried to be patient during this interrogation but the district attorney has consistently been leading the witness, calling for opinion.
You are quite right, Mr.
Mason.
You will refrain from this type of questioning, Mr.
Burger.
But, Your Honour, we have already proven that the white paper represented a threat to one man and to only one man, Daniel Conway.
And that only Daniel Conway knew that Rose Calvert had stolen from it.
That's right.
She could've ruined him.
That's why he killed her.
[BANGING GAVEL.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
[BUZZER SOUNDING.]
Hello, I thought you were going to come alone.
I brought Mavis along for a little experiment.
- What kind of an experiment? - You heard her testify in court today that she could identify people by their feet or shoes.
- Yes, I heard it.
- That's what I'd like her to test.
- Not here, you're not.
- Why not, Mrs.
Griffith? Because I don't want her messing around in my closet.
We'll either do this here tonight or in court tomorrow.
Now it's up to you.
All right, go ahead.
Where are your shoes? Here.
That's them.
These are the ones she wore the day of the murder? Hey, what is this? Yeah, she got out on the seventh floor.
She's got a good, sturdy step.
She doesn't wobble like most women.
- Seventh floor? What seventh floor? - It won't do, Mrs.
Griffith.
You were at the Hotel Redfern on the night of the murder.
What's more, you were in Room 709 and you searched Room 709.
Well? How can she remember that it was that pair? - Why did you go to that hotel? - I-- To have it out with Rose Calvert.
I wasn't going to let her take my husband without a fight.
Even if the fight came to murder? No, no.
I found her dead.
I didn't kill her and that's the truth.
Is it? I went up there so angry at Warner.
I wouldn't have cared if he'd been skewered alive.
I hated him.
And then I saw her dead and I thought, "Warner did it.
What can I do?" In one second, I hated him and the next, I had to protect him.
Somehow, I had to make sure the police didn't think of him.
So you telephoned Daniel Conway.
[CRYING.]
Yes.
You telephoned him both times.
You tricked him into going to the hotel.
- Yes.
- You turned the room upside down looking for evidence that might link your husband with the murder.
- Did you find some? - No.
No, of course not.
Warner Griffith wouldn't be so careless as to leave evidence around.
Then you wiped the room clean of fingerprints and then you telephoned the police so they might find Conway with the body.
Now, do you still say you hate your husband, Mrs.
Griffith? But it wasn't Warner, Mr.
Mason.
He was in Phoenix, he said.
I know.
I know that's what he said.
Come on, Mavis.
[SOBBING.]
[CROWD CHATTERING.]
Perry, there's no doubt Griffith was in Phoenix.
- No doubt? - None.
My operative checked.
He was there, all right.
Your hunch was right too.
Time in Phoenix unaccounted for? Uh-huh.
About 6 to 11 the evening of the murder.
Check on that 6 to 11, will you, Paul? Okay.
CLERK: All rise, please.
This court is now in session.
Mr.
Griffith.
Your white paper states that company information was delivered into the hands of competitors by Daniel Conway.
That's correct.
Did this information have to do with certain fine buying opportunities? You bet, it did.
Then wouldn't it had been good business franchise for Cal-Texas to have made arrangements with a few smaller companies in order to buy these lands and leases for Cal-Texas? And wasn't that, in truth, exactly what Daniel Conway was doing? Well, if Conway was manipulating things like that, it wasn't apparent to me.
It's rather an obvious business manoeuvre, isn't it? As a man who aspires to be president of Cal-Texas, it should be obvious to you, shouldn't it? Well, there are wheels within wheels.
Indeed there are.
Several thousand people are involved in the Cal-Texas findings and explorations.
To satisfy your own personal ambitions, you have caused them to sacrifice, in part, some of their security, for with this smear of Conway, the market value of their stock has depreciated.
- Now that's true, isn't it, Mr.
Griffith? - Well, I-- Well? Is it, Mr.
Griffith? Your Honour, this is unfair.
This is putting me in a most embarrassing position.
It seems to me you've placed yourself in this position.
Answer counsel's question.
- Yes.
- Then actually, this white paper was just a cheap trick to discredit Daniel Conway and could not possibly have been a motive for Rose Calvert's murder.
Now if there was one thing in that white paper besides what I've mentioned, tell the jury and tell them now.
Your Honour, I object.
This question has already been asked and answered.
I think counsel is entitled to a direct statement from the witness.
But we don't have to belabour the point, do we, Mr.
Mason? It needed stating, Your Honour.
I'm satisfied.
Now, Mr.
Griffith, you were aware that a gun had been purchased by the Accounting Department while you were still with Cal-Texas? Yes.
And Rose Calvert worked in the Accounting Department? - Yes.
- Have you seen that gun recently? - I don't mean in court yesterday.
- Yes.
Was that gun in the possession of Rose Calvert? Yes.
She had taken it from the Cal-Texas office.
Now, did she keep it in Room 709 at the Redfern Hotel? - I don't know.
- Did she give it to you to hold for her? - No.
- But you did have access to it? Yes, I guess so.
Rose Calvert was an attractive woman.
Was there anything between you other than a business relationship? Your Honour, I object.
Mr.
Griffith is not on trial.
Your Honour, I contend this is within the scope of cross-examination.
I'm going to sustain this objection.
Very well.
Mr.
Griffith, did you see Rose Calvert on the day she was murdered? I was in Phoenix, Arizona.
There are five hours unaccounted for on your day in Phoenix, from 6 to 11.
You had time to hire a private plane, fly here, return to Phoenix in time to catch the scheduled flight back to Los Angeles.
Well, that's ridiculous.
I did no such thing.
Do you deny seeing Rose Calvert or visiting her on the day she was murdered? The closest I came to visiting her was when I had returned from Phoenix early in the morning.
I went to Rose's apartment house, the Sorrento Arms.
She was suppose to wait up for me.
But she wasn't there.
Did you take a letter from her mailbox at the Sorrento Arms? No.
Mr.
Griffith, there's testimony that a letter was sent to Rose Calvert and that it was in her mailbox on the day she was murdered.
And that letter seems to have disappeared.
Now, remembering you are still under oath, I ask you once again.
Did you examine that mailbox and did you remove such a letter? I did not.
I can't say that I acted like a gentleman in this thing but I didn't remove any letter.
And I didn't kill her.
Your Honour, if I may recall a previous witness, I believe I can prove someone is lying.
Your Honour, I don't see why we must have any more irregularity in the conduct of this trial.
Mr.
Mason has gone far afield already.
- What witness, Mr.
Mason? - Fred Calvert.
I see no reason why he can't be recalled.
Fred Calvert will please come forward.
You may step down, Mr.
Griffith.
The witness needn't be sworn in again.
He's still under oath.
Mr.
Calvert, when I went to visit you on the night of Rose's murder, I told you I had gotten your address from your wife's mailbox.
Do you remember that? - No.
No, I don't.
- You don't remember that? Well, there were so many things happening, so many things.
But it was just about midnight when I got to your house, wasn't it? Midnight? Yes.
And when I left, what did you do? Well, I went to the sheriff in Ellendale and we drove to L.
A.
and I identified my wife, Rose.
That was about 7:00 in the morning, wasn't it? - Yes, about 7:00.
- But that's almost seven hours.
I drove from Los Angeles to your house in just about an hour.
Why did it take you all that time? Well, it did, you know? Was there something else you had to do before you went to see the sheriff in Ellendale? No.
What was in that letter, Mr.
Calvert? Did you threaten your wife because she had fallen in love - with Warner Griffith? - Nope.
There was something in that letter that would direct suspicion toward you so that you had to drive to Los Angeles, pick up the letter and then drive back to Ellendale.
- That's what took so long, isn't it? - No.
You did a lot of travelling on the day of the murder.
All right, you won't leave me alone, I did it.
[CROWD CHATTERING.]
What did you do, Mr.
Calvert? I did go and get that letter.
But not for what you said.
It was because I wanted that deed back.
What deed? To my house.
I sent it to her because I thought that if I gave her my house, she'd come back to me.
But when she died-- Why should her relatives get my house? Why did you keep denying that you went after that letter, Mr.
Calvert? Well.
It's against the law tampering with the mails, you know.
Besides, it was my letter to begin with.
Why should I wanna kill her? I wanted her back.
I loved her.
But she wasn't coming back.
You found that out when you went to the Hotel Redfern, Room 709, earlier that night.
- About 7:45, to be exact, wasn't it? - No.
Maybe you didn't intend killing her.
Maybe you just wanted to plead with her.
No, no.
But she wasn't going to come back to you.
She got angry with you.
Did she threaten you with that gun? What gun? The gun she kept in her hotel room.
The murder weapon.
No.
You keep saying no, just as you did previously.
But you don't mean it now any more than you meant it before, do you? Your Honour, I protest.
You took that gun away from her.
You suddenly got angry with her.
After all, you'd given her your house, your mortgage-free house.
Everything she could want in life.
Now-- Maybe the gun went off just by accident.
Just by accident? No.
Your Honour, this is pure conjecture on the part of the defence counsel.
Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
Your Honour, I ask the court's indulgence.
What for, Mr.
Mason? I'd like the witness to step down to clarify a point of identification.
All right.
Step down, Mr.
Calvert.
Would you stand here in front of the jury, please? Miss Mavis Jordan, please.
Miss Jordan is the elevator operator at the Hotel Redfern.
I'd like her to look at your shoes, if you don't mind.
I loved my wife.
Honest, I did, Mr.
Mason.
Just a moment, Miss Jordan.
I don't think we'll need your identification.
I thought she'd come to her senses and come back to me.
She wouldn't.
She was willing to give up everything.
Even the house.
Then you went to that hotel room and you killed her.
Yes.
The way you said it, Mr.
Mason.
Almost exactly the way you said.
[CHUCKLES.]
- You know what's the funny thing? - What's that, Perry? Well, Calvert standing in front of the jury.
- Mavis staring at his shoes.
- Yes.
Why didn't you let her finish her identification? - He couldn't.
- Well, why? She couldn't.
Calvert was wearing a different pair of shoes.
[LAUGHS.]
Well, I'm glad there's a happy ending.
- Hello.
- Oh, hello, there.
I know I should apologise for intruding but I just want to say congratulations.
Oh, thank you very much.
I still have the stockholders' meeting ahead of me, - but won't you sit down? - Thank you.
You don't have to worry about that stockholders' meeting, Mr.
Conway.
- Well, why not, Miss--? - Armitage.
Amelia Armitage.
Wait a minute.
Are you from Running Springs, Texas? - That's right.
- Oh, then your family owns 37-- Thirty-seven percent of the controlling shares of Cal-Texas.
Well, looks like you have it made, young fellow.
I think we'd better be going.
- Good luck, Mr.
Conway.
CONWAY: Thank you.
- Good night, Miss Armitage.
- Good night.
He's about 33, isn't he? That's a good age for her, don't you think? What are you up to now, Miss Fix-it? Well, I just thought since they were both very interested in Cal-Texas, it would be a good time for a merger.
Oh, come on.