Perry Mason (1957) s06e02 Episode Script
The Case of the Capricious Corpse
Itheme.]
[children playing.]
Remember, Timmy, eye on the ball all the way up to the plate.
Get ready now.
Okay, now slug it.
Slug it! Come on, Timmy, Iet's try again, huh? No.
l'll never learn-- never.
Timmy, you remember my telling you l played on the foundation's ten-and-under all-stars when l was a kid? Yes.
Look-- the same series of operations you're having.
You mean you played all-stars with braces? No, but even before they took them om, l was just about the best hitter around here.
Gee, give me that bat.
- That's the boy.
Come on.
- That's right, Timmy.
Come on.
- Let's go! - Okay, kids.
Come on, let's get going now.
- Miss Proctor.
- Oh hi, Mr.
Gage.
- My uncle would like to see you.
- See me? As soon as possible, or so l was informed.
Thank you.
Like to join us? Me, George Gage, playing games with children? Don't be ridiculous.
Oh, he's waiting.
What does he want? Why does he want to see me? l don't know, Joaney.
You'd better go right in.
Claudia, is he worse? [knock at door.]
Mr.
Gage.
Joane, how do you feel about Ernest Demming? Well, since he's Claudia's husband and my brother-in-law, l suppose l shouldn't say, but l don't like him.
Then can trust you to do what l want.
Joane, my lawyer Perry Mason call him.
Tell him to have a new will for my signature tonight cutting om No.
To Claudia.
My life work, the foundation-- Claudia's and mine-- and he must never be able to destroy it as he and my nephew George are plotting to do.
Plotting? l have the proof here-- a copy of an agreement between my nephew and Demming to split everything no matter who inherits.
Call my lawyer Perry Mason.
Tell him hurry.
Ernest Demming, please.
[phone ringing.]
[Man.]
l'll get it.
Hello? A change in what? That's very interesting.
Yes, you're right.
l had better come out.
lt's time for your medicine, Mr.
Gage.
Mr.
Gage.
Mr.
Gage! At last.
l've been looking all over for you, Joaney.
What's going on? Dr.
Omstead's here and the maid says there's a lawyer.
Mr.
Gage went into a coma.
- Oh, Nick.
- Oh.
Nick, l'm afraid it means the end of the foundation.
But how? Even if Mr.
Gage does die, Ernest Demming will carry on.
He always has.
No no, that's just it.
Ernest isn't going to carry on.
He made an agreement to divide the estate with George Gage.
- George Gage? - Yeah.
Who told you that? Old Mr.
Gage.
He showed me a copy of the agreement - just before before he went into the coma.
- Oh.
Heart's slightly weaker, but otheM/ise no change.
As for his regaining consciousness, Mr.
Mason, l'd say the prognosis was unfavorable.
But there is a chance, Dr.
Omstead? Yes, but he hasn't much time-- a few hours at the most.
l see.
Well, thank you.
Coming, Claudia? No, l think l'll stay for a while.
Mr.
Mason, how is he? Not good, Joane.
Dr.
Omstead doesn't think he'll ever regain consciousness.
Oh no.
Mr.
Mason, l'm Ernest Demming's assistant, Nicholas Blake.
What can be done about this new will Joane's been telling me about? Nothing without Mr.
Gage.
You mean Ernest Demming can inherit everything - even though Mr.
Gage doesn't want him to? - l'm afraid so.
And wreck the foundation? Yes, by simply refusing to support it once he gains control of the estate.
What is this with Ernest? l thought he'd been a faithful worker for the foundation for years.
l don't know.
He's changed a lot since his first heart attack.
He just doesn't have any interest in the foundation or the children or Claudia or Well, he's found other interests-- WOmen.
Look, Mr.
Mason, why can't you tear up the old will? Wouldn't that fix him? Even if l could do that, which l can't, it would only divert everything to George Gage as ne_ of kin.
Where it would go for more high living on the Riviera and another five wives.
l guess the only solution is for some philanthropic soul to up and plug Ernest.
Even that wouldn't help, because if Ernest predeceases Mr.
Gage, it again would all go to George.
Do you mean that Claudia, as Ernest's wife, wouldn't inherit? At the time Mr.
Gage's present will was drawn up, he had complete faith in Ernest.
Claudia's name wasn't even mentioned.
The only way she could inherit would be if Ernest would inherit and then die.
You have the new will, Joane? Oh, yes.
You understand that Mr.
Gage's signature must be witnessed by at least two people not mentioned in the will? - Mm-hmm.
- All right then.
l'll be going.
Thank you, Mr.
Mason.
Good night.
Good night.
There must be something we can do, Joaney.
There must be.
Well, my suggestion would be to go to bed since anything else would be quite futile.
Oh, by the way, Mr.
Blake, the high living wasn't confined just to the Riviera.
Oh, no no, there was Paris, Rome, London, and quite a number of other places.
That and Demming versus 3,OOO kids.
l know how you feel, Nick.
No, you don't, Joaney, not by a long shot.
Not how it feels to be taken in om the street, om an ash-heap you were using as a playground, given milk, clean clothes, braces, operations, hope.
Above all, Joaney, hope.
That's why l came back to the foundation after l grew up-- to try to help give other kids hope too.
Know what l'm going to do, Joaney? l'm going to have it out with Ernest Demming.
He isn't here, Nick.
Now Claudia told me that he's still at that hotel in Beverly Hills where he stays when he's in town.
Well, he must have changed plans, then.
His car's outside, and l saw a light in the library.
Now Nick, wait.
Mr.
Demming, you may think that Mr.
Demming? He's dead.
''Dr.
Omstead.
'' Nick, it's his heart medicine.
Well, apparently it didn't work.
Do you realize what this means? Yes.
George Gage is first in line to inherit now.
Poor Claudia.
Poor Mr.
Gage-- all the work they've done, their dreams for the foundation [Timmy.]
Mr.
Blake? Is that you in there, Mr.
Blake? What is it, Timmy? The bus back to the city-- they're holding it for you.
Timmy, l can't leave just now.
Tell the driver to go ahead.
But you said you'd ride with us, tell us a story.
l know.
Ne_ time, and that's a promise, Timmy.
- Go ahead.
Come on, beat it.
- Good night, Mr.
Blake.
Good night, Timmy.
Joaney will you do something for Timmy and me and the foundation? Of course.
Go to bed and don't say a word about this to anybody.
But Dick, the-- l don't understand.
You're not supposed to.
Just go.
- But-- - Please, Joaney.
Please.
- Excuse me? - Yes, miss? l'd like to see Mr.
Ernest Demming, please; Joane Proctor.
Bungalow 5, please.
Mr.
Demming? A Miss Proctor to see you.
Fine.
l'll have a boy show you the way.
Uh, that-- that was Mr.
Demming? Yes.
lt's quite all right.
l know where the bungalows are.
Thank you.
- Joane.
- Oh.
l didn't mean to startle you.
Oh, hello, Mrs.
Omstead.
Oh, that's quite all right.
l've been dropping things all morning.
What in the world are you doing in Beverly Hills? l brought in some papers in for my brother-in-law.
Ernest is here in the hotel? l would have thought he'd be at Mr.
Gage's bedside.
How is Mr.
Gage, by the way? Well, your husband says there hasn't been much change.
As a doctor's wife, l should know if that's good or bad, but l don't.
Are you free for lunch, Joane? Well, l-- l don't know.
lf you have a chance, join me in the Camelia room.
All right.
Goodbye, Mrs.
Omstead.
Mr.
Demming? [Man's voice.]
Door's unlocked.
Come in.
Who is it? lt-- it's me.
Joane.
- Oh, am l glad to see you.
- Oh, Nick.
That's Ernest's robe.
Nick, why did you have me ask for Ernest at the desk? What's this all about? Why didn't they find the body found this morning? Nick, wasn't he really dead? He's dead, all right.
And his body's in the lake by the estate gates.
ln the lake? You put it there? But why? Why did you do that? l didn't know what else to do, Joaney.
l thought Mr.
Gage would die during the night, and when he didn't Wait a minute, Joaney.
Let's take it from the top and then maybe it'll make sense, okay? All right, look, when l got you out of the library, all l had in mind was to hide Ernest until after Mr.
Gage died, which l thought would happen any minute.
Don't you see? lf l could have convinced people that Ernest died later than Mr.
Gage, the estate would go to him and then to Claudia.
Only Mr.
Gage didn't die.
l know.
That was the rub, Joaney.
l took Ernest's body outside so nobody would see it.
l wrapped it in some canvas and then put it in the back of his car.
And then l waited and waited until about 4:OO in the morning when l realized the plan wasn't going to work.
Well, then-- then l got another-- another not-so-pretty idea.
l tied some sash weights on the canvas and l dropped the body in the lake.
Then l drove back here in his car.
[knock at door.]
Who is it? [Man's voice.]
Room service for your breaMast things, Mr.
Demming.
Just a minute.
- Let him in.
- Nick, you signed Ernest's name.
Naturally.
lt's over there.
- Oh, here's the check.
- Thank you, ma'am.
Nick? Why Ernest's name? Well, that's my 4:OO idea.
lf Mr.
Gage dies today, and l can keep Ernest alive until after that, - Claudia will still inherit.
- Alive? How could you keep him alive? You know, Joaney-- fake telephone calls, room-service orders, signatures on food-and-drink checks, you asking for him at the desk-- a dozen ways.
But the people he told Claudia that he was staying in town to meet? What about them? Here are the people.
l thought so.
All right, Nick.
Now if Mr.
Gage should-- well, if he should die today, how are you going to make it seem that Ernest died afteM/ards? That's the crux of my idea.
It's foolproof l think.
[phone ringing.]
- You'd better answer.
- What'll l say? Joaney, that depends on whether you're with me or not.
Now so far you're in the clear.
The blame's all mine.
One word and l'm done for.
But remember so are Claudia and Timmy and the foundation.
Hello? l just got here, Claudia.
Ernest? Why-- why, he went out with some people.
He didn't say when he'd be back.
Do you want me to take a message? When did you first discover he was missing, Mr.
Gage? Early this morning.
l suppose l should have called you then, but l thought someone in the house might have an explanation.
How much would you say the missing-- what'd you say it was? A samurai warrior-- samurai being the Japanese term for a certain class of nobles.
And if you were going to ask me what the departed warrior's worth, Mrs.
Demming can tell you better than l.
Claudia, this is Detective Boykins.
How do you do? As for the samurai's worth, all l can tell you is that Mr.
Carleton Gage was once omered _8,OOO for the pair.
Have you any idea as to the how or why of this, Mrs.
Demming? No.
It seems both mysterious and senseless to me.
Senseless or not, l'd better try to earn my pay.
Mr.
Gage, you say the servants are quartered in back? Thank you.
l'll find my way out.
And what's the latest bulletin on my esteemed uncle? There's still no change.
And still no new will in your favor.
Odds are there won't be, but if it does happen, l'm sure you and l can work things out all right.
Through an agreement like the one Ernest made with you-- to divide the estate, no matter who inherits? - No, thank you.
- Where did you hear about Ernest and me? l just put some things together.
There's really no use in your waiting, Mr.
Gage.
Ernest said if he wasn't back by 5:OO, he's not going to come back until after dinner.
Back from where, Miss Proctor? Where? Well, um, l really don't know where he is.
Don't know or won't say? Only four wives, not five as your boyfriend says, but enough to have taught me to know when a woman is trying to conceal something.
Has something happened to Ernest? What makes you think anything's happened to him? Either that or he's deliberately trying to avoid me.
And he has no reason to do that.
He wouldn't avoid you, Mr.
Gage.
He-- he just-- He just doesn't know you're looking for him, that's all.
A small voice in here tells me that the lady doth protest too much, but l'll ignore it provided you see that Ernest gets in touch with me.
l will.
''Something fishy here,'' the small voice mutters-- ''something odd.
'' - Mr.
Gage? - Hmm? - That's the door out.
- Oh, yes yes, so it is.
yes.
Always had a poor sense of direction.
A poor sense of direction, Miss Proctor, but a keen sense of smell.
- Shh.
- Nick, l can't go on with this.
l can't.
l'm scared.
l'm beginning to feel like a criminal.
l can't.
Oh, l know, l know, honey.
l thought if we could just hold out a little while longer But it's going on! It goes on and on.
Nick, what if the police [phone ringing.]
Hello? Yes, Claudia.
When did it happen? l see.
Yes, we'll be out there aS SOOn aS We Can.
Mr.
Gage just died without ever regaining consciousness.
Very sorry, miss, but place is closed.
l need some help.
It's my brother-in-law.
He just slumped over a minute ago.
l think it's his heart.
You wish a doctor? Could you get me some water first? l'm gonna try and get his medicine down him.
Hurry, please.
Do you have a phone here? No-- no telephone.
Look, miss-- look.
No Ernest! lnheriting at 5:20 and dying at T:15.
Ernest Demming had probably the shortest career of any millionaire in history.
The one l feel sorry for is Joane Proctor, having to stand there helplessly and watch her brother-in-law go over the clim.
Have they recovered his body yet? Not according to this paper.
Paul, that samurai armor l told you about-- the armor that was missing from the Gage house? l checked with the police.
They haven't found a thing yet.
Perry, why are you so interested in the samurai? lt seems such a curious thing to steal-- a pointless kind of theft-- and happening while there was this trouble with the will.
Well, maybe it's none of my business, especially since everything appears to have worked out according to Mr.
Gage's wishes.
- [phone buzzes.]
- Yes, Gertie? Joane Proctor? She here? Have her come in, please.
Miss Proctor.
- Mr.
Mason, l need your help.
- Help? Why, Joane? lt's the police-- the way they've been questioning me as if they thought that l was responsible for Ernest's death.
Now sit down.
Sit down.
Relax.
l'm sorry.
It's just that l'm so tired.
All right, suppose you tell us what you told the police.
This is Mr.
Paul Drake.
He's associated with us.
Miss Proctor.
Well, to start at the beginning, Nick and l were in Ernest's bungalow when Claudia called and told us about Mr.
Gage.
Was Ernest there? No.
But he arrived later about 6:30.
We told him about Mr.
Gage and then we all started out for Palos Verdes.
The papers say you and Ernest were alone in the car.
We were.
Ernest didn't feel well.
He was dizzy and short of breath, so l said l'd drive for him.
Where was Nicholas Blake? He had a very important stop to make at the Gage Foundation home in Santa Monica, so l let him have my convertible.
l see.
And then? lt happened just after we turned om 101 onto the ocean road to the Gage estate.
Suddenly Ernest moaned and said, ''Joaney, my heart'' and toppled over.
l swung om the road to a vegetable stand.
There was a man there.
He was closing up for the night and l asked him for some water so l could give Ernest one of his heart pills.
Then l followed the man to the stand, thinking if he had a telephone, one of us could call a doctor.
He saw it first-- the car.
lt was rolling down the hill towards the ocean.
And it went over the clim.
Had you set the brake? Yes, l did put it on before l followed the man to the stand.
Did this man see you do that? l'm not sure.
That's the part the police kept going over and over.
Well, even if in your excitement you didn't set the brake properly, his death was still an accident.
Then l don't have anything to worry about, do l? Not as long as you're telling the truth.
l am.
Joane, if the police become too bothersome, just call me.
l will.
And thank you.
- Thank you.
Goodbye.
- Goodbye.
Paul, would you like to go su_ fishing? Su_ fishing? ln back of a vegetable stand run by Ito Kumagi.
You don't think she was telling the truth? Let's just say l'd like to know what the police are doing and Mr.
Kumagi's answer to one question.
- About the hand brake? - About a some armor-- samurai armor.
Nick.
l was beginning to wonder if we'd got our signals crossed.
Honey, sit down.
- Do you want a drink? - No, thank you.
- Nick, your hand.
- It's just a couple of bruised knuckles.
- Getting out of the car? - Yeah, what a scramble that was.
l had to wait until it was in those bushes and by then it was really rolling and only about 50 feet from the clim.
Oh, Nick, l thought you'd gone over with it too.
l died a thousand deaths until you called.
Everybody thought it was because of Ernest.
So much the better.
How'd it go with Perry Mason? All right, l guess.
He bought your story? And didn't find any holes in it? Oh, that's a relief.
Joaney, l know it hasn't been easy for you bearing the brunt of all this, but it's over.
The happy ending Mr.
Gage wanted-- the foundation safe, Claudia inheriting.
l hope you're right.
l am, darling.
You'll see.
Nick, what do we do now? Do? Why, nothing.
That's the beauty of this.
There's nothing more to be done.
It's done.
A samurai warrior? You must be joking.
They no longer exist, even in Japan.
l was referring to a dummy samurai, Mr.
Kumagi.
- A dummy? - You know, the kind they have in museums.
Now could the bent-over passenger in the car have possibly been such a figure? Samurai little person like me.
This man very large person, like you.
Well, so much for the great samurai theory.
Oh, one more thing-- Did you notice whether or not the girl set the emergency brake in the car? Police ask that too.
Yes, l saw her reach in, pull on before she came away from car.
Maybe not pull quite hard enough.
Yeah, maybe.
Well, thanks very much.
Well well, the top brass of the police department on an outing.
Lieutenant Tragg, Lieutenant Anderson.
Well, Paul, hello.
Business or a seaside stroll? Business, l guess.
Perry Mason business? Lieutenant, just because l do an occasional job for Perry doesn't mean he's my only client.
About 50 to 1 he is, l'll bet, when there's a possibility of murder involved.
Murder.
Here? Any luck, Jenkins? No.
l increased the search pattern to at least 100 feet out-- nothing.
You haven't found Demming yet? - No, and we're not likely to.
- How come? One of the car doors was open and we figure the body's been washed out to sea.
Here, Lieutenant, last time down l found this wedged in the seat on the passenger's side.
Thank you.
''Gerber's Pharmacy, Palos Verdes.
Dr.
Guy Omstead.
One or two when indicated.
For: E.
Demming.
'' Most likely the heart pills Miss Proctor told us about.
You'd better put it with the other things.
What's all this? What the divers have brought up so far.
Hat with Demming's name in it, briefcase with his initials on it, and what's probably one of his shoes.
Andy, l don't see anything here that smells of murder.
Well, it's not what's here.
lt's something the diver discovered when he first swam into the car.
Oh? What was that? The emergency brake wasn't on as Miss Proctor said it was, and the car was in gear as Miss Proctor said it wasn't.
Which makes us wonder a little, Paul, about her story.
Quite frankly, l can't tell you anything about this bottle.
lt was supplied by the druggist, as were the tablets.
But this is your prescription, Dr.
Omstead.
lt would appear so from the label.
''One or two when indicated.
'' What does indicated mean, Doctor? You'd know, Lieutenant, if you had angina pectoris.
Excuse me.
l'm sorry, Guy.
l didn't know you were with a patient.
Well, hardly a patient, Olive.
This is Lieutenant Anderson from Homicide; my wife.
The Lieutenant's been asking some questions about Ernest.
Ernest? Then his-- his death wasn't wasn't accidental? Let's just say there are some things we're curious about.
One, Doctor, is would Ernest Demming's collapse in the car be the more or less the natural result of a heart attack? Of a very severe one, yes.
l see.
Now Doctor, these tablets nitroglycerin? No.
In Mr.
Demming's case nitroglycerin proved inemective, so l prescribed Demerol.
By the way, have you checked those with the druggist? Why do you ask that? They don't look quite like the ones Ernest was taking.
They aren't.
ln what way are they dimerent, Lieutenant? Our crime lab is trying to answer that now, Mrs.
Omstead.
One final thing, Doctor-- Who did you give this prescription to? To Ernest Demming, of course.
Why? lt was presented at the drug store by a woman.
Whoa! Grubby little creatures.
Didn't you ever go on a picnic when you were a little boy, Mr.
Gage? Yes.
Usually in the Palm Room at the Waldo_ Astoria.
- Could l have a word with you? - Certainly.
l could have gone to Claudia about this, but-- except that she in turn might have gone to the police.
The police? Yes, because l'm embarking, you might say, on a kind of second-hand blackmail.
You see, l saw you and young Mr.
Blake leaving the hotel yesterday evening.
And without Ernest, not with him as you told the police.
But he-- well, he was with us.
Your car was in front.
Demming's car was parked in the rear of Ernest's bungalow.
A simple matter to whisk his body out, place it on the floorboards without anyone seeing.
Mr.
Gage, are you intimating-- l haven't quite finished yet.
Then you drove om in Ernest's car and young Blake in your car.
And at some secluded place near Mr.
Kumagi's vegetable stand, you met, you moved the body into the front seat, and you staged your accident.
Now whether you did or did not kill Ernest is of little interest to me.
But what is of interest is that he either died or was killed before Carleton Gage died and so could not inherit.
Now my terms, to be relayed to Claudia-- a life annuity of _100,OO a year, to be paid in Switzerland, or her sister goes to prison.
No! - How nice to see you, Mr.
Mason.
- Mr.
Gage, Joane.
- Were you looking for me? - And Miss Proctor.
Oh, well then l'll go up to the house if l can get through all the bedlam out here.
Will l see you later? Yes.
Joane, some things have come up that make it essential l get completely truthful answers from you.
First, did you or did you not put on that emergency brake? l did put it on, Mr.
Mason.
- At the same time leaving the car in gear? - No, l didn't leave it in gear.
- Then how did it get in gear? - l don't know.
Joane, did you kill Ernest Demming? That's exactly the question l was going to ask the young lady, Mr.
Mason.
Well, Miss Proctor, did you? Don't answer that, Joane, until we've talked further.
But l must.
l've got to answer it right now.
l didn't kill Ernest.
l didn't! Well, that's odd, Miss Proctor because l have a first-degree-murder warrant charging that you did kill him.
l didn't.
Joane, this is far enough.
l'm going to confess everything and have them take the body out of the lake.
No, Nick.
We can confess later if we have to.
And maybe we won't.
Mr.
Mason say that he doubts if they have enough to bind me over for trial without the body.
So wait, Nick.
Joane, the state is subpoenaing some of the hotel employees as witnesses.
Now did something happen there that might have a bearing on all this? At the hotel? - What could have happened there? - l'm asking you.
Well, nothing happened-- nothing.
Supe_icially, You Honor, this might seem like a spur-of-the-moment crime, like a woman's sudden impulse to get rid of her stricken and unconscious brother-in-law in order to save her sister from the pain of being deserted for another woman and to insure her sister's monetary well being.
But the State will go deeper than that.
The state intends to prove that the crime of murder had already been committed before that car was allowed deliberately to plunge into the Pacific and that this crime was the culmination of a cold-blooded, shrewdly-calculated murder plot on the part of the defendant Joane Proctor.
You say your late husband never threatened to leave you, Mrs.
Demming? No, he didn't.
Didn't he say to you, and l quote, ''lf it weren't for what old man Gage might do to that will of his, - l'd leave you like a shot?'' - He said that, but he didn't mean it.
lf he didn't mean it, why did you tell your sister about it? l didn't.
l didn't tell her.
They were talking at the foot of the stairs by those spooky Japanese figures.
And you heard? Mrs.
Demming tell her sister that Ernest-- l mean Mr.
Demming-- was in love with another woman.
Did she say who this other woman was? She said she didn't know, but all that kept Mr.
Demming from leaving her was Mr.
Gage being alive.
Did she say anything about what might happen after Mr.
Gage died? She said she felt certain Mr.
Demming, having inherited, would leave her then.
And did the defendant make any comment in regard to this? She said that if Mr.
Demming left her sister after all their years together, he deserved to be electrocuted.
You may cross examine, Mr.
Mason.
Do you hear this, Miss King? No, l don't.
Why? You have the most remarkable pair of ears l've encountered in a long time, with the ability to hear a private conversation between Mrs.
Demming and her husband, and then one between Mrs.
Demming and her sister.
No doubt you also heard of the woman with whom Ernest Demming was infatuated? Why, l didn't.
Wasn't that because you were that woman, Miss King? Before you answer, l should warn you that a number of canceled checks made out to you were found among his emects.
That was for keeping him up on what went on at the house.
Then you informed him of Mr.
Gage's decision to change his will? Yes, but l never got the money for that.
Before he could pay me she killed him.
[Mason.]
Mr.
Kumagi, l'd like to return to a part of your testimony only sketchily touched upon by the state.
Now what were Miss Proctor's exact movements in connection with the emergency brake? Well, after she get out, she reach in car through open door and pull it on, like so.
You actually saw her do this? Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr.
Kumagi.
What is your omicial title, sir, at the San Fernando plant where this car in question was assembled? Chief engineer.
And as chief engineer, can you tell us if there were any changes made in the emergency braking system the year the car was made? Yes, there was one change which we've incorporated in this year's model too.
- l'll show you, if l may.
- Would you, please? We'll have to imagine that the engine is running, - because it only happens then.
- What only happens then? When the car is in gear, any gear, the emergency brake automatically comes om.
[Burger.]
l see.
Then it would be possible for the defendant, having bent over and pulled on the emergency brake, to straighten up and still release it? Yes, by simply brushing against the gear lever hard enough to put the car in gear.
Thank you, sir.
You say those tablets are not the ones that you put in this bottle when filling Dr.
Omstead's prescription for the deceased? No.
They're smaller and gray-white rather than cream-white.
Would you please Iook around this courtroom, sir, and tell us if you see the person who actually picked up this prescription? Yes, that's her-- the young lady over there-- the defendant.
l'd completely forgotten.
He needed his prescription refilled one day and l-- l took it to the druggist for him.
What did your chemical analysis of these tablets in the police laboratory reveal? Each of the five tablets we examined contained-- - Demerol? - No.
Benzedrine.
No, Mr.
Burger, l certainly did not prescribe Benzedrine.
That's a rather dangerous stimulant.
Taken in conjunction with a severe or even mild heart attack, it would have a most deleterious emect.
Would it react like cyanide on a normal heart? Not as drastic as that, but in a way, yes.
Now let me show you these Demerol tablets which have just been entered in evidence and identified as being identical to those made up for Mr.
Ernest Demming.
Do you recognize those? Yes, sir.
They look like the ones l found stuck down in the couch in Mr.
Demming's bungalow when l cleaned it the morning after his death.
Well, did you see anyone in the bungalow the day before? Anyone besides Mr.
Demming, that is? Yes, sir.
Her.
l saw her go in that day shortly before noon.
With Carleton Gage dead, Demming would obviously have left his _40-a-day bungalow and return to Palos Verdes.
Now why didn't Demming check out? l don't understand.
Oh, l think you do, Nicholas.
l think you know that the reason he didn't check out was because he wasn't really there.
Mr.
Mason, what are you talking about? Paul? No one at the hotel actually saw Ernest Demming that day.
There was someone on the phone saying he was Ernest Demming, someone telling people calling him that Demming had gone out and was expected back soon; and someone forging Ernest Demming's name to food-and-drink checks.
Nicholas, what were you and Joane trying to cover up? Demming's prior death in order to protect Claudia and the foundation? You know, we can get a handwriting expert to prove you were the one who forged those room-service checks.
There was no forgery, Mr.
Mason.
l-- l just wrote his name, never thinking anybody'd bother to check.
Joane and l found him here in the library the night before.
lt was a heart attack, or so we thought.
And, well that's when l had my-- my brainstorm.
Brainstorm is right.
Although l suspect it's as much yours as his, Perry.
Some new phase of that razzle-dazzle technique of yours? lf you feel that way, Hamilton, why did you bother to come out here? Oh, l wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world, even if it did mean getting up at daybreak.
They've stopped.
Of course, they'll never find anything.
l happen to believe the body's out there where he says it is.
[laughs.]
You know, in a way l hope you're right.
What l want to hear is you explaining how a dead body got from inside an automobile into a private lake in Palos Verdes.
Levitation? Or did the corpse swim, Perry? Mr.
Burger! The body, Mr.
Burger-- the diver's found it.
Well, l'll be.
Wouldn't it be better, Mrs.
Demming, if you went up to the house? No, l want to stay.
Fine.
Lieutenant, cut it open.
lt's the samurai warrior! l assure you, Your Honor, the state is in no way responsible for the lurid stories in the newspapers.
Were you, Mr.
Mason? No, Your Honor.
l've talked to no reporters.
ln any event, Your Honor, the state is now fully prepared to prove that Ernest Demming did not die when the defendant and her young friend claimed he did.
Ernest Demming, as a matter of fact, was alive and at his hotel all the ne_ day.
And it was that night that he was murdered, just as the state has contended all along.
Yes, l heard it quite clearly.
She-- Joane-- asked for Ernest Demming.
The hotel desk clerk called him, then told her Mr.
Demming wanted to see her in his bungalow.
What's more, when l spoke to her, she said that she'd come to town at Ernest's request to bring some papers to him.
l'm absolutely sure.
l saw Ernest Demming coming into the hotel; l talked to him for a while and then he went on to his bungalow.
And this was on the evening prior to the one in which his car went over the clim? Yes, and then a little later that evening, l saw him drive om in a car with Miss Proctor.
- That's not true! - [Judge taps gavel.]
lt's all right, Joane.
It's all right.
You may cross-examine, counselor.
Mr.
Gage, l don't understand this.
Do you realize that by testifying that you saw Ernest Demming alive after the death of Carleton Gage, you are destroying any chance of inheriting the Gage estate? You wouldn't have me lie, would you, Mr.
Mason? No, but l'm quite certain you are doing so.
Excuse me, counselor, for interrupting, but something's come up that l think you'll want to know.
Your Honor, the police have just reported that the body of Ernest Demming has been recovered, not from any lake, but from the Pacific Ocean, at a spot not far from where his car made its supposedly fatal plunge.
l'm sure at this time the defense will be more than willing to agree to a temporary adjournment while autopsy may be pe_ormed on the body.
[Judge.]
Yes, of course.
Mr.
Mason? Your Honor, l'm in the midst of a cross-examination.
And now the body's been found, these questions are more important than ever.
Very well.
You may proceed.
Mr.
Gage, you had an agreement with Ernest Demming to divide the estate with him if and when he inherited.
l beg your pardon? And failing to make a similar agreement with his wife Claudia, did you not then attempt to force an agreement through her sister? Did you not then threaten to tell the police that Ernest Demming was not in the car with Joane when she left the hotel, but that he was, in fact, already dead? - She told you about that? - Yes, she did.
And regretting the agreement and wanting to inherit the entire estate yourself, - you then killed Ernest Hemming? - But l didn't want to inherit.
You didn't want to inherit? Would you, Mr.
Mason, if you had promised four ex-wives slightly over 1500/o of the estate in the event you got it? What you were working for, then, was an under-the-table deal with either Ernest or Claudia Demming? Yes.
Then why did you kill Ernest Demming when you had such a deal? But l didn't kill him.
l submit you did.
l further submit that when you saw Nicholas Blake moving the body, - you took the samurai warrior from its-- - Hold it, Mr.
Mason.
l don't know anything about that samurai.
But l do know someone who does.
At least she jumps a foot every time it's mentioned.
Little Miss Snoop over there.
Ask her.
Ask Miss King.
But l didn't know there was any connection.
l mean, well, he took it-- Dr.
Omstead.
l'm sorry, Doctor, l just have to tell .
Yes.
Yes, l saw him take it.
You watched Nicholas Blake carry the body from of the library, wrap it in canvas and place it in the back of the car? Yes.
Why didn't you inform the police instead of substituting the samurai armor and later disposing of Demming's body in the ocean? Well, l-- l didn't know what Blake intended to do with the body.
l wanted to make sure, if l could, that it vanished for good.
Why did you want that, Doctor? So there'd be no autopsy.
Because an autopsy would have shown that you had switched Demming's heart tablets and thus caused his death? Yes.
Why did you want him dead? Would this woman's glove found in Ernest Demming's hotel bungalow have something to do with it, Doctor? Recognize it? No.
No, l don't.
lt's no use, Guy.
You can't protect me any longer.
l'm not worth it.
They know the glove belongs to me.
He didn't switch the tablets.
l did.
Ernest said he was going back to Claudia to make sure he got the money.
That's all he ever thought of was the money.
He said he never wanted to see me again.
He told me we were through.
Don't you see, Guy? He just never cared about what happened to me.
He didn't care! Children: Timmy, hit it! Come on! Perry, this bothers me-- How did Dr.
Omstead know it was his wife who switched the tablets? She broke down and told him what she'd done when he came home that night from seeing Mr.
Gage.
Why didn't he warn Demming? Well, he tried to.
He hurried back to the house, but by then Demming was dead and already being moved by Nicholas.
And his thought then was to try to protect his wife.
By the way, what do you suppose will happen to Nicholas and Joane? Probation, most likely, since their motives were good, even though their actions were more than slightly illegal.
[children playing.]
Remember, Timmy, eye on the ball all the way up to the plate.
Get ready now.
Okay, now slug it.
Slug it! Come on, Timmy, Iet's try again, huh? No.
l'll never learn-- never.
Timmy, you remember my telling you l played on the foundation's ten-and-under all-stars when l was a kid? Yes.
Look-- the same series of operations you're having.
You mean you played all-stars with braces? No, but even before they took them om, l was just about the best hitter around here.
Gee, give me that bat.
- That's the boy.
Come on.
- That's right, Timmy.
Come on.
- Let's go! - Okay, kids.
Come on, let's get going now.
- Miss Proctor.
- Oh hi, Mr.
Gage.
- My uncle would like to see you.
- See me? As soon as possible, or so l was informed.
Thank you.
Like to join us? Me, George Gage, playing games with children? Don't be ridiculous.
Oh, he's waiting.
What does he want? Why does he want to see me? l don't know, Joaney.
You'd better go right in.
Claudia, is he worse? [knock at door.]
Mr.
Gage.
Joane, how do you feel about Ernest Demming? Well, since he's Claudia's husband and my brother-in-law, l suppose l shouldn't say, but l don't like him.
Then can trust you to do what l want.
Joane, my lawyer Perry Mason call him.
Tell him to have a new will for my signature tonight cutting om No.
To Claudia.
My life work, the foundation-- Claudia's and mine-- and he must never be able to destroy it as he and my nephew George are plotting to do.
Plotting? l have the proof here-- a copy of an agreement between my nephew and Demming to split everything no matter who inherits.
Call my lawyer Perry Mason.
Tell him hurry.
Ernest Demming, please.
[phone ringing.]
[Man.]
l'll get it.
Hello? A change in what? That's very interesting.
Yes, you're right.
l had better come out.
lt's time for your medicine, Mr.
Gage.
Mr.
Gage.
Mr.
Gage! At last.
l've been looking all over for you, Joaney.
What's going on? Dr.
Omstead's here and the maid says there's a lawyer.
Mr.
Gage went into a coma.
- Oh, Nick.
- Oh.
Nick, l'm afraid it means the end of the foundation.
But how? Even if Mr.
Gage does die, Ernest Demming will carry on.
He always has.
No no, that's just it.
Ernest isn't going to carry on.
He made an agreement to divide the estate with George Gage.
- George Gage? - Yeah.
Who told you that? Old Mr.
Gage.
He showed me a copy of the agreement - just before before he went into the coma.
- Oh.
Heart's slightly weaker, but otheM/ise no change.
As for his regaining consciousness, Mr.
Mason, l'd say the prognosis was unfavorable.
But there is a chance, Dr.
Omstead? Yes, but he hasn't much time-- a few hours at the most.
l see.
Well, thank you.
Coming, Claudia? No, l think l'll stay for a while.
Mr.
Mason, how is he? Not good, Joane.
Dr.
Omstead doesn't think he'll ever regain consciousness.
Oh no.
Mr.
Mason, l'm Ernest Demming's assistant, Nicholas Blake.
What can be done about this new will Joane's been telling me about? Nothing without Mr.
Gage.
You mean Ernest Demming can inherit everything - even though Mr.
Gage doesn't want him to? - l'm afraid so.
And wreck the foundation? Yes, by simply refusing to support it once he gains control of the estate.
What is this with Ernest? l thought he'd been a faithful worker for the foundation for years.
l don't know.
He's changed a lot since his first heart attack.
He just doesn't have any interest in the foundation or the children or Claudia or Well, he's found other interests-- WOmen.
Look, Mr.
Mason, why can't you tear up the old will? Wouldn't that fix him? Even if l could do that, which l can't, it would only divert everything to George Gage as ne_ of kin.
Where it would go for more high living on the Riviera and another five wives.
l guess the only solution is for some philanthropic soul to up and plug Ernest.
Even that wouldn't help, because if Ernest predeceases Mr.
Gage, it again would all go to George.
Do you mean that Claudia, as Ernest's wife, wouldn't inherit? At the time Mr.
Gage's present will was drawn up, he had complete faith in Ernest.
Claudia's name wasn't even mentioned.
The only way she could inherit would be if Ernest would inherit and then die.
You have the new will, Joane? Oh, yes.
You understand that Mr.
Gage's signature must be witnessed by at least two people not mentioned in the will? - Mm-hmm.
- All right then.
l'll be going.
Thank you, Mr.
Mason.
Good night.
Good night.
There must be something we can do, Joaney.
There must be.
Well, my suggestion would be to go to bed since anything else would be quite futile.
Oh, by the way, Mr.
Blake, the high living wasn't confined just to the Riviera.
Oh, no no, there was Paris, Rome, London, and quite a number of other places.
That and Demming versus 3,OOO kids.
l know how you feel, Nick.
No, you don't, Joaney, not by a long shot.
Not how it feels to be taken in om the street, om an ash-heap you were using as a playground, given milk, clean clothes, braces, operations, hope.
Above all, Joaney, hope.
That's why l came back to the foundation after l grew up-- to try to help give other kids hope too.
Know what l'm going to do, Joaney? l'm going to have it out with Ernest Demming.
He isn't here, Nick.
Now Claudia told me that he's still at that hotel in Beverly Hills where he stays when he's in town.
Well, he must have changed plans, then.
His car's outside, and l saw a light in the library.
Now Nick, wait.
Mr.
Demming, you may think that Mr.
Demming? He's dead.
''Dr.
Omstead.
'' Nick, it's his heart medicine.
Well, apparently it didn't work.
Do you realize what this means? Yes.
George Gage is first in line to inherit now.
Poor Claudia.
Poor Mr.
Gage-- all the work they've done, their dreams for the foundation [Timmy.]
Mr.
Blake? Is that you in there, Mr.
Blake? What is it, Timmy? The bus back to the city-- they're holding it for you.
Timmy, l can't leave just now.
Tell the driver to go ahead.
But you said you'd ride with us, tell us a story.
l know.
Ne_ time, and that's a promise, Timmy.
- Go ahead.
Come on, beat it.
- Good night, Mr.
Blake.
Good night, Timmy.
Joaney will you do something for Timmy and me and the foundation? Of course.
Go to bed and don't say a word about this to anybody.
But Dick, the-- l don't understand.
You're not supposed to.
Just go.
- But-- - Please, Joaney.
Please.
- Excuse me? - Yes, miss? l'd like to see Mr.
Ernest Demming, please; Joane Proctor.
Bungalow 5, please.
Mr.
Demming? A Miss Proctor to see you.
Fine.
l'll have a boy show you the way.
Uh, that-- that was Mr.
Demming? Yes.
lt's quite all right.
l know where the bungalows are.
Thank you.
- Joane.
- Oh.
l didn't mean to startle you.
Oh, hello, Mrs.
Omstead.
Oh, that's quite all right.
l've been dropping things all morning.
What in the world are you doing in Beverly Hills? l brought in some papers in for my brother-in-law.
Ernest is here in the hotel? l would have thought he'd be at Mr.
Gage's bedside.
How is Mr.
Gage, by the way? Well, your husband says there hasn't been much change.
As a doctor's wife, l should know if that's good or bad, but l don't.
Are you free for lunch, Joane? Well, l-- l don't know.
lf you have a chance, join me in the Camelia room.
All right.
Goodbye, Mrs.
Omstead.
Mr.
Demming? [Man's voice.]
Door's unlocked.
Come in.
Who is it? lt-- it's me.
Joane.
- Oh, am l glad to see you.
- Oh, Nick.
That's Ernest's robe.
Nick, why did you have me ask for Ernest at the desk? What's this all about? Why didn't they find the body found this morning? Nick, wasn't he really dead? He's dead, all right.
And his body's in the lake by the estate gates.
ln the lake? You put it there? But why? Why did you do that? l didn't know what else to do, Joaney.
l thought Mr.
Gage would die during the night, and when he didn't Wait a minute, Joaney.
Let's take it from the top and then maybe it'll make sense, okay? All right, look, when l got you out of the library, all l had in mind was to hide Ernest until after Mr.
Gage died, which l thought would happen any minute.
Don't you see? lf l could have convinced people that Ernest died later than Mr.
Gage, the estate would go to him and then to Claudia.
Only Mr.
Gage didn't die.
l know.
That was the rub, Joaney.
l took Ernest's body outside so nobody would see it.
l wrapped it in some canvas and then put it in the back of his car.
And then l waited and waited until about 4:OO in the morning when l realized the plan wasn't going to work.
Well, then-- then l got another-- another not-so-pretty idea.
l tied some sash weights on the canvas and l dropped the body in the lake.
Then l drove back here in his car.
[knock at door.]
Who is it? [Man's voice.]
Room service for your breaMast things, Mr.
Demming.
Just a minute.
- Let him in.
- Nick, you signed Ernest's name.
Naturally.
lt's over there.
- Oh, here's the check.
- Thank you, ma'am.
Nick? Why Ernest's name? Well, that's my 4:OO idea.
lf Mr.
Gage dies today, and l can keep Ernest alive until after that, - Claudia will still inherit.
- Alive? How could you keep him alive? You know, Joaney-- fake telephone calls, room-service orders, signatures on food-and-drink checks, you asking for him at the desk-- a dozen ways.
But the people he told Claudia that he was staying in town to meet? What about them? Here are the people.
l thought so.
All right, Nick.
Now if Mr.
Gage should-- well, if he should die today, how are you going to make it seem that Ernest died afteM/ards? That's the crux of my idea.
It's foolproof l think.
[phone ringing.]
- You'd better answer.
- What'll l say? Joaney, that depends on whether you're with me or not.
Now so far you're in the clear.
The blame's all mine.
One word and l'm done for.
But remember so are Claudia and Timmy and the foundation.
Hello? l just got here, Claudia.
Ernest? Why-- why, he went out with some people.
He didn't say when he'd be back.
Do you want me to take a message? When did you first discover he was missing, Mr.
Gage? Early this morning.
l suppose l should have called you then, but l thought someone in the house might have an explanation.
How much would you say the missing-- what'd you say it was? A samurai warrior-- samurai being the Japanese term for a certain class of nobles.
And if you were going to ask me what the departed warrior's worth, Mrs.
Demming can tell you better than l.
Claudia, this is Detective Boykins.
How do you do? As for the samurai's worth, all l can tell you is that Mr.
Carleton Gage was once omered _8,OOO for the pair.
Have you any idea as to the how or why of this, Mrs.
Demming? No.
It seems both mysterious and senseless to me.
Senseless or not, l'd better try to earn my pay.
Mr.
Gage, you say the servants are quartered in back? Thank you.
l'll find my way out.
And what's the latest bulletin on my esteemed uncle? There's still no change.
And still no new will in your favor.
Odds are there won't be, but if it does happen, l'm sure you and l can work things out all right.
Through an agreement like the one Ernest made with you-- to divide the estate, no matter who inherits? - No, thank you.
- Where did you hear about Ernest and me? l just put some things together.
There's really no use in your waiting, Mr.
Gage.
Ernest said if he wasn't back by 5:OO, he's not going to come back until after dinner.
Back from where, Miss Proctor? Where? Well, um, l really don't know where he is.
Don't know or won't say? Only four wives, not five as your boyfriend says, but enough to have taught me to know when a woman is trying to conceal something.
Has something happened to Ernest? What makes you think anything's happened to him? Either that or he's deliberately trying to avoid me.
And he has no reason to do that.
He wouldn't avoid you, Mr.
Gage.
He-- he just-- He just doesn't know you're looking for him, that's all.
A small voice in here tells me that the lady doth protest too much, but l'll ignore it provided you see that Ernest gets in touch with me.
l will.
''Something fishy here,'' the small voice mutters-- ''something odd.
'' - Mr.
Gage? - Hmm? - That's the door out.
- Oh, yes yes, so it is.
yes.
Always had a poor sense of direction.
A poor sense of direction, Miss Proctor, but a keen sense of smell.
- Shh.
- Nick, l can't go on with this.
l can't.
l'm scared.
l'm beginning to feel like a criminal.
l can't.
Oh, l know, l know, honey.
l thought if we could just hold out a little while longer But it's going on! It goes on and on.
Nick, what if the police [phone ringing.]
Hello? Yes, Claudia.
When did it happen? l see.
Yes, we'll be out there aS SOOn aS We Can.
Mr.
Gage just died without ever regaining consciousness.
Very sorry, miss, but place is closed.
l need some help.
It's my brother-in-law.
He just slumped over a minute ago.
l think it's his heart.
You wish a doctor? Could you get me some water first? l'm gonna try and get his medicine down him.
Hurry, please.
Do you have a phone here? No-- no telephone.
Look, miss-- look.
No Ernest! lnheriting at 5:20 and dying at T:15.
Ernest Demming had probably the shortest career of any millionaire in history.
The one l feel sorry for is Joane Proctor, having to stand there helplessly and watch her brother-in-law go over the clim.
Have they recovered his body yet? Not according to this paper.
Paul, that samurai armor l told you about-- the armor that was missing from the Gage house? l checked with the police.
They haven't found a thing yet.
Perry, why are you so interested in the samurai? lt seems such a curious thing to steal-- a pointless kind of theft-- and happening while there was this trouble with the will.
Well, maybe it's none of my business, especially since everything appears to have worked out according to Mr.
Gage's wishes.
- [phone buzzes.]
- Yes, Gertie? Joane Proctor? She here? Have her come in, please.
Miss Proctor.
- Mr.
Mason, l need your help.
- Help? Why, Joane? lt's the police-- the way they've been questioning me as if they thought that l was responsible for Ernest's death.
Now sit down.
Sit down.
Relax.
l'm sorry.
It's just that l'm so tired.
All right, suppose you tell us what you told the police.
This is Mr.
Paul Drake.
He's associated with us.
Miss Proctor.
Well, to start at the beginning, Nick and l were in Ernest's bungalow when Claudia called and told us about Mr.
Gage.
Was Ernest there? No.
But he arrived later about 6:30.
We told him about Mr.
Gage and then we all started out for Palos Verdes.
The papers say you and Ernest were alone in the car.
We were.
Ernest didn't feel well.
He was dizzy and short of breath, so l said l'd drive for him.
Where was Nicholas Blake? He had a very important stop to make at the Gage Foundation home in Santa Monica, so l let him have my convertible.
l see.
And then? lt happened just after we turned om 101 onto the ocean road to the Gage estate.
Suddenly Ernest moaned and said, ''Joaney, my heart'' and toppled over.
l swung om the road to a vegetable stand.
There was a man there.
He was closing up for the night and l asked him for some water so l could give Ernest one of his heart pills.
Then l followed the man to the stand, thinking if he had a telephone, one of us could call a doctor.
He saw it first-- the car.
lt was rolling down the hill towards the ocean.
And it went over the clim.
Had you set the brake? Yes, l did put it on before l followed the man to the stand.
Did this man see you do that? l'm not sure.
That's the part the police kept going over and over.
Well, even if in your excitement you didn't set the brake properly, his death was still an accident.
Then l don't have anything to worry about, do l? Not as long as you're telling the truth.
l am.
Joane, if the police become too bothersome, just call me.
l will.
And thank you.
- Thank you.
Goodbye.
- Goodbye.
Paul, would you like to go su_ fishing? Su_ fishing? ln back of a vegetable stand run by Ito Kumagi.
You don't think she was telling the truth? Let's just say l'd like to know what the police are doing and Mr.
Kumagi's answer to one question.
- About the hand brake? - About a some armor-- samurai armor.
Nick.
l was beginning to wonder if we'd got our signals crossed.
Honey, sit down.
- Do you want a drink? - No, thank you.
- Nick, your hand.
- It's just a couple of bruised knuckles.
- Getting out of the car? - Yeah, what a scramble that was.
l had to wait until it was in those bushes and by then it was really rolling and only about 50 feet from the clim.
Oh, Nick, l thought you'd gone over with it too.
l died a thousand deaths until you called.
Everybody thought it was because of Ernest.
So much the better.
How'd it go with Perry Mason? All right, l guess.
He bought your story? And didn't find any holes in it? Oh, that's a relief.
Joaney, l know it hasn't been easy for you bearing the brunt of all this, but it's over.
The happy ending Mr.
Gage wanted-- the foundation safe, Claudia inheriting.
l hope you're right.
l am, darling.
You'll see.
Nick, what do we do now? Do? Why, nothing.
That's the beauty of this.
There's nothing more to be done.
It's done.
A samurai warrior? You must be joking.
They no longer exist, even in Japan.
l was referring to a dummy samurai, Mr.
Kumagi.
- A dummy? - You know, the kind they have in museums.
Now could the bent-over passenger in the car have possibly been such a figure? Samurai little person like me.
This man very large person, like you.
Well, so much for the great samurai theory.
Oh, one more thing-- Did you notice whether or not the girl set the emergency brake in the car? Police ask that too.
Yes, l saw her reach in, pull on before she came away from car.
Maybe not pull quite hard enough.
Yeah, maybe.
Well, thanks very much.
Well well, the top brass of the police department on an outing.
Lieutenant Tragg, Lieutenant Anderson.
Well, Paul, hello.
Business or a seaside stroll? Business, l guess.
Perry Mason business? Lieutenant, just because l do an occasional job for Perry doesn't mean he's my only client.
About 50 to 1 he is, l'll bet, when there's a possibility of murder involved.
Murder.
Here? Any luck, Jenkins? No.
l increased the search pattern to at least 100 feet out-- nothing.
You haven't found Demming yet? - No, and we're not likely to.
- How come? One of the car doors was open and we figure the body's been washed out to sea.
Here, Lieutenant, last time down l found this wedged in the seat on the passenger's side.
Thank you.
''Gerber's Pharmacy, Palos Verdes.
Dr.
Guy Omstead.
One or two when indicated.
For: E.
Demming.
'' Most likely the heart pills Miss Proctor told us about.
You'd better put it with the other things.
What's all this? What the divers have brought up so far.
Hat with Demming's name in it, briefcase with his initials on it, and what's probably one of his shoes.
Andy, l don't see anything here that smells of murder.
Well, it's not what's here.
lt's something the diver discovered when he first swam into the car.
Oh? What was that? The emergency brake wasn't on as Miss Proctor said it was, and the car was in gear as Miss Proctor said it wasn't.
Which makes us wonder a little, Paul, about her story.
Quite frankly, l can't tell you anything about this bottle.
lt was supplied by the druggist, as were the tablets.
But this is your prescription, Dr.
Omstead.
lt would appear so from the label.
''One or two when indicated.
'' What does indicated mean, Doctor? You'd know, Lieutenant, if you had angina pectoris.
Excuse me.
l'm sorry, Guy.
l didn't know you were with a patient.
Well, hardly a patient, Olive.
This is Lieutenant Anderson from Homicide; my wife.
The Lieutenant's been asking some questions about Ernest.
Ernest? Then his-- his death wasn't wasn't accidental? Let's just say there are some things we're curious about.
One, Doctor, is would Ernest Demming's collapse in the car be the more or less the natural result of a heart attack? Of a very severe one, yes.
l see.
Now Doctor, these tablets nitroglycerin? No.
In Mr.
Demming's case nitroglycerin proved inemective, so l prescribed Demerol.
By the way, have you checked those with the druggist? Why do you ask that? They don't look quite like the ones Ernest was taking.
They aren't.
ln what way are they dimerent, Lieutenant? Our crime lab is trying to answer that now, Mrs.
Omstead.
One final thing, Doctor-- Who did you give this prescription to? To Ernest Demming, of course.
Why? lt was presented at the drug store by a woman.
Whoa! Grubby little creatures.
Didn't you ever go on a picnic when you were a little boy, Mr.
Gage? Yes.
Usually in the Palm Room at the Waldo_ Astoria.
- Could l have a word with you? - Certainly.
l could have gone to Claudia about this, but-- except that she in turn might have gone to the police.
The police? Yes, because l'm embarking, you might say, on a kind of second-hand blackmail.
You see, l saw you and young Mr.
Blake leaving the hotel yesterday evening.
And without Ernest, not with him as you told the police.
But he-- well, he was with us.
Your car was in front.
Demming's car was parked in the rear of Ernest's bungalow.
A simple matter to whisk his body out, place it on the floorboards without anyone seeing.
Mr.
Gage, are you intimating-- l haven't quite finished yet.
Then you drove om in Ernest's car and young Blake in your car.
And at some secluded place near Mr.
Kumagi's vegetable stand, you met, you moved the body into the front seat, and you staged your accident.
Now whether you did or did not kill Ernest is of little interest to me.
But what is of interest is that he either died or was killed before Carleton Gage died and so could not inherit.
Now my terms, to be relayed to Claudia-- a life annuity of _100,OO a year, to be paid in Switzerland, or her sister goes to prison.
No! - How nice to see you, Mr.
Mason.
- Mr.
Gage, Joane.
- Were you looking for me? - And Miss Proctor.
Oh, well then l'll go up to the house if l can get through all the bedlam out here.
Will l see you later? Yes.
Joane, some things have come up that make it essential l get completely truthful answers from you.
First, did you or did you not put on that emergency brake? l did put it on, Mr.
Mason.
- At the same time leaving the car in gear? - No, l didn't leave it in gear.
- Then how did it get in gear? - l don't know.
Joane, did you kill Ernest Demming? That's exactly the question l was going to ask the young lady, Mr.
Mason.
Well, Miss Proctor, did you? Don't answer that, Joane, until we've talked further.
But l must.
l've got to answer it right now.
l didn't kill Ernest.
l didn't! Well, that's odd, Miss Proctor because l have a first-degree-murder warrant charging that you did kill him.
l didn't.
Joane, this is far enough.
l'm going to confess everything and have them take the body out of the lake.
No, Nick.
We can confess later if we have to.
And maybe we won't.
Mr.
Mason say that he doubts if they have enough to bind me over for trial without the body.
So wait, Nick.
Joane, the state is subpoenaing some of the hotel employees as witnesses.
Now did something happen there that might have a bearing on all this? At the hotel? - What could have happened there? - l'm asking you.
Well, nothing happened-- nothing.
Supe_icially, You Honor, this might seem like a spur-of-the-moment crime, like a woman's sudden impulse to get rid of her stricken and unconscious brother-in-law in order to save her sister from the pain of being deserted for another woman and to insure her sister's monetary well being.
But the State will go deeper than that.
The state intends to prove that the crime of murder had already been committed before that car was allowed deliberately to plunge into the Pacific and that this crime was the culmination of a cold-blooded, shrewdly-calculated murder plot on the part of the defendant Joane Proctor.
You say your late husband never threatened to leave you, Mrs.
Demming? No, he didn't.
Didn't he say to you, and l quote, ''lf it weren't for what old man Gage might do to that will of his, - l'd leave you like a shot?'' - He said that, but he didn't mean it.
lf he didn't mean it, why did you tell your sister about it? l didn't.
l didn't tell her.
They were talking at the foot of the stairs by those spooky Japanese figures.
And you heard? Mrs.
Demming tell her sister that Ernest-- l mean Mr.
Demming-- was in love with another woman.
Did she say who this other woman was? She said she didn't know, but all that kept Mr.
Demming from leaving her was Mr.
Gage being alive.
Did she say anything about what might happen after Mr.
Gage died? She said she felt certain Mr.
Demming, having inherited, would leave her then.
And did the defendant make any comment in regard to this? She said that if Mr.
Demming left her sister after all their years together, he deserved to be electrocuted.
You may cross examine, Mr.
Mason.
Do you hear this, Miss King? No, l don't.
Why? You have the most remarkable pair of ears l've encountered in a long time, with the ability to hear a private conversation between Mrs.
Demming and her husband, and then one between Mrs.
Demming and her sister.
No doubt you also heard of the woman with whom Ernest Demming was infatuated? Why, l didn't.
Wasn't that because you were that woman, Miss King? Before you answer, l should warn you that a number of canceled checks made out to you were found among his emects.
That was for keeping him up on what went on at the house.
Then you informed him of Mr.
Gage's decision to change his will? Yes, but l never got the money for that.
Before he could pay me she killed him.
[Mason.]
Mr.
Kumagi, l'd like to return to a part of your testimony only sketchily touched upon by the state.
Now what were Miss Proctor's exact movements in connection with the emergency brake? Well, after she get out, she reach in car through open door and pull it on, like so.
You actually saw her do this? Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr.
Kumagi.
What is your omicial title, sir, at the San Fernando plant where this car in question was assembled? Chief engineer.
And as chief engineer, can you tell us if there were any changes made in the emergency braking system the year the car was made? Yes, there was one change which we've incorporated in this year's model too.
- l'll show you, if l may.
- Would you, please? We'll have to imagine that the engine is running, - because it only happens then.
- What only happens then? When the car is in gear, any gear, the emergency brake automatically comes om.
[Burger.]
l see.
Then it would be possible for the defendant, having bent over and pulled on the emergency brake, to straighten up and still release it? Yes, by simply brushing against the gear lever hard enough to put the car in gear.
Thank you, sir.
You say those tablets are not the ones that you put in this bottle when filling Dr.
Omstead's prescription for the deceased? No.
They're smaller and gray-white rather than cream-white.
Would you please Iook around this courtroom, sir, and tell us if you see the person who actually picked up this prescription? Yes, that's her-- the young lady over there-- the defendant.
l'd completely forgotten.
He needed his prescription refilled one day and l-- l took it to the druggist for him.
What did your chemical analysis of these tablets in the police laboratory reveal? Each of the five tablets we examined contained-- - Demerol? - No.
Benzedrine.
No, Mr.
Burger, l certainly did not prescribe Benzedrine.
That's a rather dangerous stimulant.
Taken in conjunction with a severe or even mild heart attack, it would have a most deleterious emect.
Would it react like cyanide on a normal heart? Not as drastic as that, but in a way, yes.
Now let me show you these Demerol tablets which have just been entered in evidence and identified as being identical to those made up for Mr.
Ernest Demming.
Do you recognize those? Yes, sir.
They look like the ones l found stuck down in the couch in Mr.
Demming's bungalow when l cleaned it the morning after his death.
Well, did you see anyone in the bungalow the day before? Anyone besides Mr.
Demming, that is? Yes, sir.
Her.
l saw her go in that day shortly before noon.
With Carleton Gage dead, Demming would obviously have left his _40-a-day bungalow and return to Palos Verdes.
Now why didn't Demming check out? l don't understand.
Oh, l think you do, Nicholas.
l think you know that the reason he didn't check out was because he wasn't really there.
Mr.
Mason, what are you talking about? Paul? No one at the hotel actually saw Ernest Demming that day.
There was someone on the phone saying he was Ernest Demming, someone telling people calling him that Demming had gone out and was expected back soon; and someone forging Ernest Demming's name to food-and-drink checks.
Nicholas, what were you and Joane trying to cover up? Demming's prior death in order to protect Claudia and the foundation? You know, we can get a handwriting expert to prove you were the one who forged those room-service checks.
There was no forgery, Mr.
Mason.
l-- l just wrote his name, never thinking anybody'd bother to check.
Joane and l found him here in the library the night before.
lt was a heart attack, or so we thought.
And, well that's when l had my-- my brainstorm.
Brainstorm is right.
Although l suspect it's as much yours as his, Perry.
Some new phase of that razzle-dazzle technique of yours? lf you feel that way, Hamilton, why did you bother to come out here? Oh, l wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world, even if it did mean getting up at daybreak.
They've stopped.
Of course, they'll never find anything.
l happen to believe the body's out there where he says it is.
[laughs.]
You know, in a way l hope you're right.
What l want to hear is you explaining how a dead body got from inside an automobile into a private lake in Palos Verdes.
Levitation? Or did the corpse swim, Perry? Mr.
Burger! The body, Mr.
Burger-- the diver's found it.
Well, l'll be.
Wouldn't it be better, Mrs.
Demming, if you went up to the house? No, l want to stay.
Fine.
Lieutenant, cut it open.
lt's the samurai warrior! l assure you, Your Honor, the state is in no way responsible for the lurid stories in the newspapers.
Were you, Mr.
Mason? No, Your Honor.
l've talked to no reporters.
ln any event, Your Honor, the state is now fully prepared to prove that Ernest Demming did not die when the defendant and her young friend claimed he did.
Ernest Demming, as a matter of fact, was alive and at his hotel all the ne_ day.
And it was that night that he was murdered, just as the state has contended all along.
Yes, l heard it quite clearly.
She-- Joane-- asked for Ernest Demming.
The hotel desk clerk called him, then told her Mr.
Demming wanted to see her in his bungalow.
What's more, when l spoke to her, she said that she'd come to town at Ernest's request to bring some papers to him.
l'm absolutely sure.
l saw Ernest Demming coming into the hotel; l talked to him for a while and then he went on to his bungalow.
And this was on the evening prior to the one in which his car went over the clim? Yes, and then a little later that evening, l saw him drive om in a car with Miss Proctor.
- That's not true! - [Judge taps gavel.]
lt's all right, Joane.
It's all right.
You may cross-examine, counselor.
Mr.
Gage, l don't understand this.
Do you realize that by testifying that you saw Ernest Demming alive after the death of Carleton Gage, you are destroying any chance of inheriting the Gage estate? You wouldn't have me lie, would you, Mr.
Mason? No, but l'm quite certain you are doing so.
Excuse me, counselor, for interrupting, but something's come up that l think you'll want to know.
Your Honor, the police have just reported that the body of Ernest Demming has been recovered, not from any lake, but from the Pacific Ocean, at a spot not far from where his car made its supposedly fatal plunge.
l'm sure at this time the defense will be more than willing to agree to a temporary adjournment while autopsy may be pe_ormed on the body.
[Judge.]
Yes, of course.
Mr.
Mason? Your Honor, l'm in the midst of a cross-examination.
And now the body's been found, these questions are more important than ever.
Very well.
You may proceed.
Mr.
Gage, you had an agreement with Ernest Demming to divide the estate with him if and when he inherited.
l beg your pardon? And failing to make a similar agreement with his wife Claudia, did you not then attempt to force an agreement through her sister? Did you not then threaten to tell the police that Ernest Demming was not in the car with Joane when she left the hotel, but that he was, in fact, already dead? - She told you about that? - Yes, she did.
And regretting the agreement and wanting to inherit the entire estate yourself, - you then killed Ernest Hemming? - But l didn't want to inherit.
You didn't want to inherit? Would you, Mr.
Mason, if you had promised four ex-wives slightly over 1500/o of the estate in the event you got it? What you were working for, then, was an under-the-table deal with either Ernest or Claudia Demming? Yes.
Then why did you kill Ernest Demming when you had such a deal? But l didn't kill him.
l submit you did.
l further submit that when you saw Nicholas Blake moving the body, - you took the samurai warrior from its-- - Hold it, Mr.
Mason.
l don't know anything about that samurai.
But l do know someone who does.
At least she jumps a foot every time it's mentioned.
Little Miss Snoop over there.
Ask her.
Ask Miss King.
But l didn't know there was any connection.
l mean, well, he took it-- Dr.
Omstead.
l'm sorry, Doctor, l just have to tell .
Yes.
Yes, l saw him take it.
You watched Nicholas Blake carry the body from of the library, wrap it in canvas and place it in the back of the car? Yes.
Why didn't you inform the police instead of substituting the samurai armor and later disposing of Demming's body in the ocean? Well, l-- l didn't know what Blake intended to do with the body.
l wanted to make sure, if l could, that it vanished for good.
Why did you want that, Doctor? So there'd be no autopsy.
Because an autopsy would have shown that you had switched Demming's heart tablets and thus caused his death? Yes.
Why did you want him dead? Would this woman's glove found in Ernest Demming's hotel bungalow have something to do with it, Doctor? Recognize it? No.
No, l don't.
lt's no use, Guy.
You can't protect me any longer.
l'm not worth it.
They know the glove belongs to me.
He didn't switch the tablets.
l did.
Ernest said he was going back to Claudia to make sure he got the money.
That's all he ever thought of was the money.
He said he never wanted to see me again.
He told me we were through.
Don't you see, Guy? He just never cared about what happened to me.
He didn't care! Children: Timmy, hit it! Come on! Perry, this bothers me-- How did Dr.
Omstead know it was his wife who switched the tablets? She broke down and told him what she'd done when he came home that night from seeing Mr.
Gage.
Why didn't he warn Demming? Well, he tried to.
He hurried back to the house, but by then Demming was dead and already being moved by Nicholas.
And his thought then was to try to protect his wife.
By the way, what do you suppose will happen to Nicholas and Joane? Probation, most likely, since their motives were good, even though their actions were more than slightly illegal.