Perry Mason (1957) s06e05 Episode Script
The Case of the Hateful Hero
Hi.
Rudy, listen, you're the manager of this dump.
lt's your place to see that those kids keep their stum where it belongs.
Oh now, they're nice kids.
l know them all.
They don't mean any harm, Miss Jordan.
What do you have in the bags? Mr.
Schuyler sent me down to buy some trick-or-treat stum for the kids.
Well, l'm not giving anything to the little monsters around here.
You know, l'm gonna be amul sorry to see Mr.
Schuyler leave.
Maybe he's not the only one leaving.
[humming.]
- Mr.
Schuyler? - [knocking.]
Come in, Rudy.
Hey, it's a little early for that, isn't it? l always shave in the morning.
What's that got to do with drinking? l prefer the aftershave lotion on the inside.
[chuckles.]
Did you get plenty of candy and bubble gum for the kids, Rudy? Lots of it-- just like you told me, Mr.
Schuyler.
- Good.
Pour yourself a drink.
- Thank you.
Hey, we're not gonna be here tonight.
Why'd you bother getting all that trick-or-treat junk? We're not leaving for the party till 10:OO.
- Now plenty of kids will stop by before then.
- Hmm.
What's that? The costume you're gonna wear tonight.
How about that? [chuckles.]
You are a clown, you know, Phil? [Woman.]
Rudy, somebody wants you.
Oh, somebody always wants me.
Hey, why don't you ask me what l'm wearing to the party? Hmm, why don't l? Vera, what are you going to wear tonight? Da dum! Cigarettes, candy, cigarettes? This is the costume l'm wearing in the bit part l do for Charlie Noymann's picture.
Boy, would the wardrobe department be furious if they found out l borrowed it for a party.
Like? There are things about the Royal Pacific Court that l'm going to miss.
Cigarette girls aren't supposed to sit down with their customers.
l know, but you're a very special customer.
Mr.
Schuyler's bungalow is right around here.
You a friend of his? l'm his brother-in-law, not his friend.
Oh, l guess you dropped by to wish him bon voyage, huh? ls he going somewhere? Oh, he's leaving for Mexico ne_ week.
Here it is.
Mr.
Schuyler? Ahem.
You've got company.
Frank, what are you doing in L.
A.
? l came to see you.
Um, this is my brother-in-law, Frank MacManus; Vera Jordan.
How do you do? Um, Vera isn't really a cigarette girl.
She's-- l'm not interested in the occupation or profession - that occupies Miss Jordan's time.
- Real charmer, isn't he? Look, Phil, l've got to run.
l'll see you tonight.
How about a drinkie? There we are.
l forgot-- you don't drink.
And l hadn't forgotten that you do very little else.
The manager tells me that you're leaving for Mexico ne_ week.
That's right.
Well, l'm not surprised that you wouldn't bother keeping us posted on your plans.
l've had it, Phil.
You're no good and you never will be.
l warned you the last time that l wasn't taking any more trouble from you.
- Talking for yourself or my sister? - Both of us.
Being my wife's brother doesn't give you the right to sign my name to a check.
l thought l could pay you back before you found out.
So l didn't.
So what? Two handwriting experts are ready to testify in court that this signature is a forgery.
You know, most people think that they have to work in order to survive.
But of course that thought would never occur to you.
Relax, Frankie, relax.
My financial worries are over for good.
l'm gonna be rich.
Well, this forged check is for _3,OOO.
- Do you have it? - No, but l can get it.
You'd better get it.
Because if l don't have this money by the time l leave Los Angeles tonight, l am going to promer charges against you-- criminal charges.
ls that clear, Mr.
Schuyler? - [phone ringing.]
- [woman singing over speakers.]
Winthrope residence.
Yes, Mr.
Schuyler.
Yes, Mr.
White is back from Europe, but he's not at home.
He's at the university.
She's listening.
Be quiet, please.
Yes, l'll tell him, Mr.
Schuyler.
Grace dear l dislike constantly reminding you that this is the White residence and that l am Mrs.
Damion White, not Miss Winthrope.
l'm sorry, Mrs.
White.
It won't happen again.
Mona, stop making [Yiddish word.]
about who gets what billing here at your house and listen to the score.
l've got to have your decision today-- now! l tell you, this is the greatest musical Alex Chase ever wrote.
Tailor-made for you, baby, believe me.
That song, Jerry, that song.
That's the title song rrom pearJs and Jade? Well, it's only a tape recording from a rehearsal run-through at the Santa Barbara try-out.
And Lucy's voice isn't much, but just listen to it, Mona.
And more than anything else, that one song is why l called and insisted you put an end to this crazy two-year honeymoon of yours, come back from Europe immediately and go to work again.
lf l agree to go back to work and star in Alex's show, Charlie Noymann will finance a Broadway run and a picture? That show with that song in it, right? We'll recast the show.
You'll take over the starring role.
One week in Boston.
Ho ho! Then look out, Times Square.
With you starring in it, Pearls and Jade could run on Broadway for years.
Then the multimillion-dollar movie musical starring Mona Winthrope in her triumphant return to the screen.
Jerry Janda, even without those ridiculous elevator shoes, you are the biggest and the best agent in all of Hollywood.
You'll-- you'll do it, Mona? Do it? Of course l'll do it.
Nothing would make me happier.
- Oh, Mr.
White.
- Hello, Grace.
Mona, that song.
- Oh, Damion.
- [turns om song.]
l didn't expect you home till just before the party tonight.
l have to get right back.
l forgot to take some papers to the university this morning.
Hello, Jerry.
How's the agency business? Ho ho! Booming, Professor-- booming.
Come to the studio with me, Mona.
Having Charlie hear you rave about Alex's score may keep his fingers from trembling when he steers his pen across the bottom of the most expensive contract he ever signed! - [laughs.]
- Charlie can wait.
Right now l'm going to rush right over to Alex's.
l think the talented composer deserves to hear me rave much more than Charlie Noymann.
[laughs.]
Mona, l started to ask you about-- - Later, darling.
Later.
- Bye, Professor.
Oh, Damion, don't be late for the party tonight, huh? Oh, Mr.
White, there's been a Mr.
Schuyler-- Mr.
Philip Schuyler-- trying to reach you on the phone all morning.
Phil? That's a coincidence.
Okay, thank you, Grace.
- Oh, Grace? - Yes, sir? When l came into the house just now, l heard a song.
Mr.
Janda, the agent, brought a tape recording over to play for Miss Winth-- Oh, l'm sorry-- Mrs.
White.
Well, what did she say about the song-- the one they were listening to? She seemed quite excited about it.
ls there anything else, sir? Did that Mr.
Schuyler leave a number? Oh yes.
lt's Olive-4-1654.
Thank you, Grace.
Phil, Damion White.
Fine, fine.
We got back from Europe late last night.
Yes, l know you've been calling me, Phil.
But look, there's something l've got to talk to you about.
Now-- now listen, Phil.
What are you talking about? Unless you want to see me in jail, you'll have to give me _3,OOO this afternoon, Damion.
_3,ooo? Well well, the barefooted Bernhardt.
Beauty and talent both-- divine actress, superbly endowed by a beneficent deity.
l guess her husband's pretty talented too.
Which means what? Oh, you'll find out when she asks about the song.
Well, back to the well.
Alex! Hi, Alex! Mona, Mona, darling Hey, baby, you're soaking wet.
- Yes.
l love it.
- Come on.
Freda's inside.
The score is divine, Alex-- simply divine.
It's such beautiful music.
- Then you'll do the show? - Of course.
Hello, Freda.
How's my favorite composer's favorite wife? Flat where l should be sharp.
- Here, dear, have a drink.
- Thank you.
To Pearls and Jade, to its wonde_ul star and to success.
To lots of money.
Hear hear.
To a beautiful show with an even more beautiful title song which you stole from my husband, you nasty stinker.
Oh! [Freda laughing.]
Oh.
Oh, the second act of, um Shanghai Wife.
Or was it Hong Kong WÃdow? Freda, you're disgusting when you drink.
l think she may really be angry, Alex.
Here, you've got jam on your face.
And you've got booze on the brain.
Another drink, you may fall om that stool.
And what will you fall om if your very best friend sues you for plagiarism? What are you talking about? l stole nobody's song-- not Damion's-- nobody's.
Pearls and Jade is mine, an original Alexander Chase song.
Yes, stolen from an original melody by Professor Damion White, composed over two years ago.
Or didn't you think l'd recognize it with those upside-down Gershwin lyrics you added? This is ridiculous.
Freda, baby, tell her.
Tell her how wrong she is.
Mona, Alex says to tell you you're wrong.
You see, he lies and l swear to it.
Damion was playing that tune on a piano at a party the night l met him-- no words, just melody.
My own private melody that you heard me hum more than once, Alex.
Professors, soda jerks, gas-station attendants-- everybody's a songwriter.
Oh, Mona baby, l've written thousands of melodies and completely forgotten hundreds of them.
So l hear a song; so it's like one of mine.
So what? l forget it, that's all.
Oh, ''like''? Pearls and Jade is like Damion's song? Really, Alex, l do think that puny little beard of yours is just a set of earmums temporarily out of place.
All right, all right, so there is a slight similarity.
So how many notes are there in the scales? So l'll pay him for it.
Only no credit.
Only my name alone goes on Pearls and Jade.
Mona, be reasonable.
l need this show.
Without the song there's no show.
l need this credit-- a solo credit.
Perry Mason, please.
This is Mona White-- Mona Winthrope calling.
Damion's a professor, a well-known teacher.
What does a song credit mean to him? Nothing.
But a great deal to me.
We're going up to Santa Barbara tomorrow to see the try-out and l want to surprise him-- his wife starring in a show with him name on it.
Perry? Perry darling.
Mona.
When did you get back? Mmm.
You've already compared the songs? No doubt about it.
Songs? What are you talking about? l see-- out and out plagiarism.
No legal question of it at all? Mona, if you're using me as a legal shoe-horn, l warn you there'll be a bill at the end of the month.
We can sue for how much? As much as that, Perry? Tonight's Halloween, not April Fool's Day.
Who is it you're bamboozling this time? Pe_ect, Perry, pe_ect.
Let's do that.
[laughs.]
Goodbye for now.
What do you know? It's empty.
Freda, l think l'll have another one.
You'd better have one too, Alex-- double.
[Janda.]
The day after Pearls and Jade open in New York, every studio in town will be bidding sky high for the picture rights.
How can you waste time haggling over the price, Charlie? The last three musicals Alex wrote died before they ever got tot New York.
Nobody was interested in buying the motion-picture rights.
So why should Charles Noymann Productions be interested in this show? Pearls and Jade isn't going to die.
We'll all make a fortune and you know it.
Come on, Charlie.
Here-- take your pen and let's get this over with, huh? You're a good agent, Janda-- too good not to know that a deal like this isn't going to run away.
Now tonight at the party Mona's going to give at her beach house-- tonight l'll make an announcement and sign.
Hey, what's the matter with you? You keep staring at that whiskey glass like it was a crystal ball or something.
Maybe l'm looking into my soul, Vera.
- Hmm.
- [laughing.]
Ah! Know what? Phil Schuyler is a louse.
[children playing.]
Would you send a cab to the Royal Pacific Court? Thank you.
- Hey, where are you going? - Malibu.
Well, what about the party we're supposed to go to tonight? l'll be back in plenty of time.
[All.]
Trick or treat! l wouldn't want to cross this bunch.
Give them something quick, Vera.
Vera, do me a favor-- stay here and dole out the candy until l get back.
lf my brother-in-law stops by while l'm gone, give him this.
Phil, about the trip to Mexico, you did get a ticket for me, didn't you? You're lots of fun, Vera, but a little old for tricks or treat.
Phil boy is going to Mexico alone.
[recording playing.]
than pearls and jade.
[all cheering.]
lt's all right, Grace.
l'll get it.
- Hello.
- Hi.
My car broke down.
Would you be kind enough to let me use your telephone? Oh, of course.
Come on in.
There's a phone in there.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
[jazz playing.]
Grace, how do you know that man's name is Phil Schuyler? He's called here so many times, l recognized his voice immediately.
[operator speaking.]
[Schuyler's voice.]
Please send a tow truck to 2446 Malibu Road as quickly as possible.
Mona, darling, now you've ignored me all evening.
What kind of way is that to treat a producer, hmm? [inaudible.]
[door bangs.]
[Children.]
Trick or treat! Phil? Phil? Rudy! - What's wrong, Miss Jordan? - l don't know.
Just hurry up and get that door unlocked.
Wait-- wait here.
[turns om water.]
Rudy, what is it? Rudy! Mr.
Schuyler-- he's dead.
No.
No! Oh, no no no.
Perry! Perry Mason, what are you doing out and about at this ghastly hour? Good morning, sweetheart.
lf l knew you were coming out so early, l would have waited for my swim.
Perry, l just talked to you on the telephone.
What are you doing here? You said you wanted to see me.
Well, yes, l do, but l intended to meet you in your omice.
l want to talk about the blackmail right now.
The what? Mona, l was going to explain it all this morning.
There's something l should have told you years ago.
Damion, what's wrong? Phil Schuyler, man Damion went to see Iast night, threatened to blackmail him.
Mona, please don't be upset.
Phil's an old buddy of mine, but for some reason he's gone sour.
He just doesn't make any sense.
l'm sure with Perry's help l'll be able to straighten him out.
l read the morning paper after l spoke to you, Damion.
Phil Schuyler was murdered last night.
l'm sorry, Mr.
Janda, but Miss Winthrope left orders that she was not to be disturbed.
So l'm disobeying the orders.
Gracie, don't play games.
Charlie Noymann is stalling on those contracts.
lf l'm going to get him to sign them, l'll need Mona in his omice with me in a half an hour.
lt'll take her longer than that to decide what mood to wear - let alone what clothes to put on.
- l don't know, Mr.
J-- Excuse me.
Police department-- Lieutenant Anderson, Homicide.
Would you tell Mr.
Damion White l'd like to see him, please? [jazz playing.]
- Freda-- - Alex, tell the man to go away or invite him in for a drink.
lf l wasn't here, you probably would.
Would l? l wonder.
No, l think l detest men with beards.
The fact that this is private property doesn't seem to bother you.
No it doesn't.
- It bothers me.
- [jazz continues.]
That song-- it's a pretty tune.
Yeah, sure is.
Of course the tape is bad.
You know those 3:OO in the morning jam sessions-- everybody well lubricated with booze.
Where did you record that song? The question isn't so much ''where,'' is it? [turns om song.]
When is what you want to know.
- Look you-- - Alex! When? Over two years ago, Mr.
Chase.
[panting.]
Alex! The police-- they've taken Damion away.
Police? Damion? What are you talking about? A strange murder weapon, wouldn't you say, Perry? We found your name and telephone number on that pad by the telephone, Mr.
White.
Now you claim you followed Phil Schuyler home last night, but stayed only a few minutes to talk to him.
Now tell me, when you were here, where was this heater? Well, l'm not sure.
l think it was there by the door.
Ah.
And how was Mr.
Schuyler dressed? He-- he was wearing a bathrobe.
Was the water in the bathtub running? l don't recall whether it was or not.
The murderer plugged the heater in here, opened the door, tossed the heater into the bathtub while Schuyler was taking a bath, and electrocuted him.
Now Mr.
White, you're sure that Schuyler wasn't taking that bath while you were here? l said he wasn't.
Miss Jordan, is this the man you saw Ieaving this bungalow shortly before the manager discovered that Phil Schuyler was dead? Yes, him.
Andy, Mr.
White told you he was here.
Mr.
White, do you drive a blue foreign sports car? A what? A blue foreign sports car.
Is that what you-- No l don't.
Look, l don't see how l can help any further, so do you have any objections to my leaving now? No, but l would object to your leaving the city, Mr.
White.
Damion, l think we'd better-- He's the one who killed Mr.
Schuyler.
How come the police let him go? Perry? Perry, l just left the cabbie who picked up Phil Schuyler, drove him to Malibu, waited for him, then dropped him back here at the Royal Pacific.
- Good work, Paul.
- And that's not all.
l got a tip that the police had a pick up out for a hot witness in this case-- some bearded beatnik named Leonard Buckman.
Well, they just canceled the bulletin.
- Meaning they found Mr.
Buckman.
- Mm-hmm.
But it's where they found him that makes it interesting.
All right.
Where? At the beach in front of Alexander Chase's place.
Were you acquainted with Phil Schuyler? No.
And now that he's dead, l never will have an opportunity to become acquainted with him, will l? Mr.
Chase, in between policemen, l only had the chance to speak briefly with Damion.
He claims he gave Phil Schuyler _3,OOO yesterday afternoon.
Why do you say ''claims'' instead of saying Damion gave Schuyler the _3,OOO? The money wasn't found in Schuyler's bungalow.
Mr.
Mason, l gave Damion _3,OOO yesterday afternoon.
Why? Because he asked me to.
What reasons had he for wanting the money? None.
l didn't ask him.
Did anyone see you turn that money over to him? l did.
And that's not all l saw and heard, is it, Alex? Freda, shut up.
You're drinking too much.
And talking too much? lt's the truth, Mr.
Mason.
l saw the bearded Buckman, the man you were asking us about before, outside our house, and-- - Freda! - --and l heard him playing a tape recording of a wonde_ul song-- Alex's wonde_ul song.
Pearls and Jade.
That's the name of it, isn't it, Alex? Mr.
Mason, about the _3,OOO--- Oh, yes, Mr.
Mason-- the _3,OOO.
What my dear husband is trying to say is that he may have trouble remembering he gave his best friend Damion that money in the middle of a plagiarism suit.
Sue Alex for plagiarism? Darling Alex? Now wherever would he dream up such nonsense? Or was it Freda? Perry, you know how that woman carries on.
Now stop it, Mona.
You called me, remember? Perry, you know me better than that.
You can't really believe l ever intended to hurt dear old Alex.
l guess by now Damion has told you that Alex wasn't the person being hurt? l told Mona about it, but how did you find out? Let's just say l guessed.
Alex didn't write Pearls and Jade, and neither did you.
That song was written by Phil Schuyler.
Now about the foreign blue sports car, did you follow your husband out to that bungalow court last night? Yes, that was my car.
l just didn't understand what was going on, so l followed him there and waited outside.
And then l followed him home.
Let's get back to your calling me yesterday, Damion.
What about the song? Perry, it was just a silly stupid mistake-- a lonely college prof trying to impress the beautiful musical-comedy star he had a crush on.
You know, l told Phil about it ages ago, and he laughed then.
lt was one of hundreds of melodies he wrote and forgot.
l should have explained it to Mona long ago.
And when l heard the melody had words and was part of Alex's show, l called Phil.
l told him he was welcome to the credit and the money from the song.
But he didn't want to talk about it then.
He was just desperate to get hold of some money fast.
That _3,OOO.
Did he say why he wanted it? Yes-- some personal problem with his brother-in-law.
lt had nothing to do with the song; just a temporary loan.
l gather he was less casual when he came out here to the house later.
He was a dimerent man.
He was hard, nasty.
He was threatening to make all kinds of trouble.
And then when he asked me for _50,OOO, l thought he was out of his mind.
He left before l could even talk to him about it.
So you followed him to his place? Yes.
l couldn't let it stand just like that.
lt was my fault, one way or another.
He told me he wasn't interested in potential earnings from the song; it might or might not be a hit.
Now Alex and l could work it out whatever way we wanted, but Phil insisted on _50,OOO right then and there.
What did you say to that? l turned him down.
l told him to go ahead and say or do whatever he wanted.
Excuse me? Mr.
White? l want you to come to police headquarters.
l'm booking you for the murder of Phil Schuyler.
Lieutenant, l doubt that you have sumicient evidence to-- l have more evidence than l need.
Not only were Damion White's fingerprints on the heater that was used to electrocute Phil Schuyler, l have an eye witness to testify that Damion White was the one and only person who could have killed him.
[Hamilton Burger.]
In the matter now pending before this court, Your Honor, of the state versus Damion White, we shall confine ourselves to the primary factors of motive and opportunity.
We will prove that the deceased, Phil Schuyler, received money from Damion White and was demanding still more money.
And we will prove that Damion White and only Damion White could have murdered Philip Schuyler.
Mr.
MacManus, did Phil Schuyler tell you how he planned to get the _3,OOO to repay you for the money he'd taken from your account by forging your name to a check for that amount? Well, no, not directly.
Although when l told him it was either pay up or face charges, he said he'd have no trouble getting the money.
And while l was there, he placed a call.
To whom did he place that call? To the defendant, Damion White.
Yes, l gave Damion _3,OOO earlier that afternoon, but it was a loan-- a temporary loan, that's all.
And while you were making this temporary loan to the defendant of _3,OOO, did he happen to mention the allegedly plagiarized melody and its disputed authorship? Oh, l believe he did casually say something about not worrying about it, - that he would-- - Go on, Mr.
Chase.
The defendant said he would what? Damion said he would take care of the matter.
Your witness.
Mr.
Chase, you had a succession of unsuccessful musical comedies.
Your income had been seriously depleted; your reputation considerably shaken in the industry.
That is true, is it not? You make it sound like l was not only bankrupt artistically and financially, but virtually dead and buried.
Nonsense.
Then you weren't at all concerned about who would get credit for the music to that song or just how that credit might conceivably amect the terms under which the show would be sold? Oh, l might have been somewhat concerned, but not after Mona's party, when l was told.
And what were you told? That-- well, that he was just stalling on the contracts; the deal would go through.
Pearls and Jade would still be presented on Broadway and still be made into a top movie musical.
And who gave you those assurances? The only man who could, Mr.
Mason-- the producer, Charlie Noymann.
The new Alex Chase musical was booked down the Pacific coast-- Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles-- strictly a shoestring try-out tour.
The show bombed, By the time we hit Santa Barbara, there were more people on stage than in the audience.
So you closed the show in Santa Barbara, Mr.
Kir_ood? As the show's director that's what l suggested to Mr# Chase.
l didn't think there was anything worth salvaging.
But he was pretty desperate, he said, and insisted on a fast rewrite and another try-out.
Well, was Mr.
Chase able to improve the show? And how.
The only really good thing in the presentation was a dance number in the second act-- a real catchy melody.
What was this catchy melody? A piece called Pearls and Jade.
Well, Alex added lyrics to it.
And with a few changes in rhythm and orchestration, it became our new running love song, new first-act production number, and our finale.
Now, Mr.
Kir_ood, you reopened the show in Santa Barbara for a second try-out, is that correct? The show was a smash-- rave reviews, standing room only for each pe_ormance.
And all thanks to that one new title song, Pearls and Jade.
Even got a nibble from a top movie producer who saw the show and flipped.
Mr.
Kir_ood, who was that producer? Charles Noymann.
Late in the afternoon, l received a telephone call at the studio from Phil Schuyler.
He sort of vaguely hinted that there might be some question about who wrote the melody for the title song of Pearls and Jade.
Then he intimated that for a small insurance payment, as he called it, l could save a lot of money and avoid legal entanglements in buying the show.
What was your answer to that? l told him if he had documented proof, l'd be willing to talk with him.
He stammered a while and then hung up.
Just a crank.
Now Mr.
Noymann, did you subsequently see this Phil Schuyler? Yes, at Mona's party.
Damion was having an argument with some man out on the patio.
l found out the following morning from the pictures in the paper that that man was Schuyler.
Now this argument, Mr.
Noymann-- did that appear to be a violent argument? Violent? Well, there were no blows.
Thank you, Mr.
Noymann.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Noymann, you had never seen Phil Schuyler.
How could you possibly know that the man who called you was in fact Phil Schuyler? Well, he said he was.
Financing a Broadway show is quite costly, isn't it? All in all, your contract with Alex Chase and Mona Winthrope must have involved a considerable sum of money.
Yes, l'd say well over _1 million is a considerable sum.
You received a call omering you insurance, as you put it, in the face of that _1 million.
Would you have this court believe that you summarily dismissed it as a crank call? l just wasn't sure the call was on the level, that's all.
Sure, if l could have gotten the rights for even _50,OOO to the title song, it would have made a big dimerence.
Exactly how big? l'd have picked up the book and score for peanuts, made a separate deal with Mona.
l could have wrapped up the whole thing for less than half what Janda was asking.
To save over _500,OOO, you must have done much more than merely reassure Alex Chase.
Before going to Mona's party, you went to see Phil Schuyler, did you not? Look here, Mason, don't start throwing accusations at me.
You said it yourself-- l could have saved _500,OOO if l made that deal with Schuyler, so why would l want to kill him? Answer my question.
You did see Phil Schuyler, did you not? No.
That is absolutely not-- N-O-T-- not true.
l told the district attorney the whole thing.
l sat in my car across the street, waiting until l saw his visitor leave.
Then l saw Miss Jordan.
She was working in one of my pictures.
She came home just about the time the visitor was leaving, at about 8:OO.
l started, yes, to get out of the car, but l thought it best not to be seen.
So l left without seeing Schuyler.
This visitor-- who was it? Alex and Mona's agent, Jerry Janda.
When l got back to my omice after seeing Charlie Noymann, Leonard Buckman was waiting to see me.
He had some crazy story that Phil Schuyler and not Alex Chase wrote the music _or the song Pearls and Jade.
Did you place any credence in the story that Leonard Buckman told you? No, not then.
l figured he was just some sort of a crank who knew about the trouble between Mona and Alex and was trying to get in on the act.
l gave him _20 and told him to beat it and not to bother me.
A couple of hours later, around T:OO, l received a call at home from Phil Schuyler himself.
He confirmed what Buckman had said and asked me to come to his place right away.
Did the decedent try to e_ort money from you, Mr.
Janda? Well, not directly, no, though he was certainly fishing for an omer.
l omered him _5,OOO for a quit claim on the music to the song.
And what was his reaction to that? He laughed at my omer; said that if l would give him _5,OOO to be quiet, there was somebody else who would probably give him _50,OOO.
Somebody else? Mr.
Janda, did Phil Schuyler say who he intended to get the money from? Did he say who he was so sure would give him _50,OOO? Yes-- the defendant, Damion White.
Hamilton Burger is certainly emicient-- motive and opportunity.
He laid it out like a road map.
Well, he's sure loaded with opportunity.
He's got an eye witness who locks White-- your client-- and only your client right into the murder.
As far as motive is concerned, we all know what type of person Damion is.
Just wait till Burger sums it up-- a successful Broadway play, a spectacular movie, the stage-struck professor's name in lights.
Oh boy.
Perry, if this were a full trial, you could put the stage-struck professor on the stand and let him tell what really happened.
Would you as a jury believe that Damion's fingerprints were on that heater because he tripped over a cord and then had to set the heater upright, or-- Or that he got his fingerprints on it when he tossed it into the bathtub to electrocute Phil Schuyler.
l see what you mean.
Which leads us right back to motive and Damion.
White isn't the only one.
Noymann could be more deeply involved than he's admitted.
And Janda stood to lose a big fat whopping commission.
And let's not forget the composer with the taking ways-- Alex Chase.
He could be up to his neck in hock.
Alex Chase? How's that, Paul? Well, it's only a possibility, but l found out this afternoon that Chase couldn't find a backer for his last musical, so he must have backed it himself.
He probably lost everything he had in the world.
Our Mr.
Chase-- composer and bankrupt angel.
''And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou?'' Della, that's it.
That's what? Satan and the angel.
l want to know more about that angel.
Now wait a minute.
l've gone a lot of places to get a lot of things-- And this time you're going to outdo yourself, tomorrow in court.
How? Well, first the angel and then Satan.
As a matter of fact, Iet's make it two Satans.
So when l caught a rehearsal of the new second try-out in Santa Barbara, l couldn't believe it.
l went to see Phil.
l told him that a tune that he had written had suddenly acquired a set of lyrics and had become the title song in a new musical play by Alexander Chase.
And when Phil Schuyler found that they were using his music without his knowledge, what did he do? l told Phil he should get in touch with Alexander Chase right away, demand credit and royalties for the song.
Phil said that he would, but first he had to have a talk with the person responsible for stealing his music.
Who could that be if it wasn't Alexander Chase? Phil wouldn't tell me what the guy's name was, but he admitted it was someone else-- not Alexander Chase-- who had stolen the music-- some college-professor friend of his.
Some college-professor friend of his? Your witness.
Mr.
Buckman, instead of calling Charles Noymann and saying you were Phil Schuyler, - why didn't you call Mr.
Chase? - l didn't call Noymann.
And l maintain that you did.
There are two possible explanations for your visit to Mr.
Chase the morning after the murder.
ln either case, blackmail had to have been involved.
You either didn't know that Phil Schuyler was dead, or you had previous knowledge that Phil Schuyler had been murdered and-- l didn't know Phil had been murdered.
If l had, l would have gone to the police.
But you did to go Alexander Chase to blackmail him, and it was you, not Phil Schuyler, who called Charles Noymann.
All right, all right, l admit that.
But l never got around to blackmailing Mr.
Chase.
When you impersonated Phil Schuyler and called Charles Noymann, he said he would speak further with you if you had documentation of the true authorship o_ Pearls and Jade.
But you didn't have such documentation, did you? Well, no.
Yet the following morning you were playing a two-year-old tape recording of that same music for Alex Chase.
We can prove that that tape recording belonged to Phil Schuyler.
All right, all right, so l stole a lousy tape.
Phil had no right to brush me om-- no right, do you hear? l was the one spotted the tune.
l was the one gave him the idea for the whole squeeze play.
Phil Schuyler outwitted you, didn't he? ln your presence, he called Janda and asked him to come right over.
And then what did he say to you, Mr.
Buckman? Did he omer to cut you in? No.
No.
''Blow,'' he said.
''Beat it.
You bother me.
'' Well, l bothered him, all right.
l bothered him real good.
l hung around till he took om, then went in and swiped the tape.
lf he wouldn't cut me in, l was going to cut myself in.
l gave Mr.
MacManus, his brother-in-law, the envelope that Phil left for him.
Then l went to my own place and started getting ready for the masquerade party that Phil and l were supposed to go to.
[Burger.]
Now while you were in your own bungalow, Miss Jordan, did you see anyone enter or leave Phil Schuyler's bungalow? Yes l did, about ten minutes before l called the manager and he found Phil dead, l saw the defendant, Damion White, Ieave Phil's place.
And in that ten minutes, Miss Jordan-- between the time you saw Damion White Ieave the bungalow and the time the decedent's body was found, did you see anyone else at all enter or leave that bungalow? - No, l didn't-- - Thank you.
--but l wasn't watching all the time.
Yes, but you told-- Well, who was watching all the time? Well, the manager, Rudy.
Thank you, Miss Jordan.
Well, sir, it was Halloween, you know, and the kids and everything-- well, they were around.
Well, anyhow, right after dinner, l discovered the electric sign out in front ain't workin'.
So l got up on a ladder to fix it.
Well, the way l'm standing up there, see, l'm facing the court.
And all the bungalows open out into that middle court, you see? And there's no way to get in or out the bungalows without going through that court.
And so there l am.
l mean, l can hardly help keeping my eye on things, you might say.
Did that include keeping your eye on Phil Schuyler's bungalow? Oh, yes sir.
Now Miss Jordan there, she went in.
And then Mr.
Schuyler's brother-in-law-- him too, he went in.
And then he came out and so did she.
And then Mr.
Schuyler came home.
And after Mr.
Schuyler came home, how many other people entered or left that bungalow? Only one-- one person went in and come out.
And nobody-- absolutely nobody went in or out after that until l found the dead body.
And who was that one and only person, Mr.
Mahlsted? Him-- Mr.
Damion White.
Mr.
Mason.
Rudy, you're positive that no one went into that bungalow after the defendant left? Yes sir, positive.
You ever look at something and not see it? l don't understand.
How long have you been living in that bungalow court, Rudy? Now this is a photograph of your bungalow-- a photograph of the room in which you've spent 20 years.
Now the design on the wallpaper-- tell me-- does the pattern run vertically, up and down, or does it go from side to side? This way.
Side to side.
Now the roses between the stripes on that wallpaper-- do they go between every stripe or between every other stripe? Between every stripe.
Now take a look, Rudy.
l was wrong both times.
We see but we do not see.
Your Honor, l must protest these circus side-show tactics.
What kind of stunt is this? [Judge.]
Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
l believe l understand where defense counsel is heading.
The court is interested in pursuing this particular point.
So unless you have a specific objection, we will continue.
Oh, by all means, Your Honor, let's have some dancing girls and a snake charmer too.
That will do, Mr.
Burger.
You may proceed, Mr.
Mason.
Yes, Your Honor.
Now Rudy, the children trick-or-treating, were they still making rounds when you unlocked the door and found the body? Oh sure, they were coming all the time, from 5:OO on.
Even after Damion White Ieft the bungalow? Oh yes, they-- they'd come back, you know.
Oh no no, Mr.
Mason, not those children.
l know them.
l know them all.
Suppose we find out just how well you do know them, Rudy.
All right, children, would you stand in a line here, please? Rudy, who is Satan #1? Brucie Hillman.
That's the Karger boy, Gene-- Gene Karger.
Oh, the little gypsy, that's easy-- Michele Strull.
That's not fair, Rudy.
You helped me buy my costume at the corner drugstore.
Satan #2, Rudy? His costume comes from that same drugstore.
Do you recognize him? Oh, sure, the boy who likes to dig holes-- Don Carmichael.
Hudson's the name-- Joe Hudson.
How tall are you, Mr.
Hudson? Just the same height as Mr.
Janda without his elevator shoes.
All right, children, thank you.
Mr.
Janda, Mr.
Chase's last flop-- it wasn't his money that financed that show.
It was yours, was it not? l lent him the money-- all l had, everything.
You borrowed heavily, hoping that Pearls and Jade would solve everything, but without that contract for Noymann, you were going to be ruined, weren't you? Yes.
Yes, that Schuyler, pressuring Damion, pressuring me.
You followed Damion and Mona to Schuyler's, picked up a costume at the drugstore from a clerk who is prepared to identity you.
You then waited until Damion left.
Then you took om your shoes and joined the children going from bungalow to bungalow and watched for your opportunity to murder Phil Schuyler.
He was in the tub.
l wasn't sure just how l was going to do it until l saw the electric heater.
Mona.
Mona, you were the only really big star l had and you hadn't worked in two years-- two years! Two You've got to understand.
Here was my chance to get my money back, to make even more money, to be on top of the heap again.
But it was all falling apart because of Schuyler, because he had written that melody.
But he was the only one who could prove that-- Schuyler himself.
l had to stop him before he got to Noymann and killed the deal.
l had to! The costume-- it wasn't Satan.
lt was a fool's costume.
From the religious vigil of All Hallow's Eve to murder.
Halloween's come a long way.
''Darkness and worms and shrouds and sepulchers.
'' Paul, you're reciting poetry.
Am l? ''But strength alone is like a fallen angel, Trees uptorn and darkness and worms and shrouds and sepulchers.
'' Hey, what do you know? Keats.
Speaking of fallen angels You mean the kind that go bankrupt backing flop shows? Yes.
You know, l thought Janda's eyes would pop right out of his head when he saw that little old man in the costume.
Yeah, some trick.
Considering the results, wouldn't you say it was more of a treat?
Rudy, listen, you're the manager of this dump.
lt's your place to see that those kids keep their stum where it belongs.
Oh now, they're nice kids.
l know them all.
They don't mean any harm, Miss Jordan.
What do you have in the bags? Mr.
Schuyler sent me down to buy some trick-or-treat stum for the kids.
Well, l'm not giving anything to the little monsters around here.
You know, l'm gonna be amul sorry to see Mr.
Schuyler leave.
Maybe he's not the only one leaving.
[humming.]
- Mr.
Schuyler? - [knocking.]
Come in, Rudy.
Hey, it's a little early for that, isn't it? l always shave in the morning.
What's that got to do with drinking? l prefer the aftershave lotion on the inside.
[chuckles.]
Did you get plenty of candy and bubble gum for the kids, Rudy? Lots of it-- just like you told me, Mr.
Schuyler.
- Good.
Pour yourself a drink.
- Thank you.
Hey, we're not gonna be here tonight.
Why'd you bother getting all that trick-or-treat junk? We're not leaving for the party till 10:OO.
- Now plenty of kids will stop by before then.
- Hmm.
What's that? The costume you're gonna wear tonight.
How about that? [chuckles.]
You are a clown, you know, Phil? [Woman.]
Rudy, somebody wants you.
Oh, somebody always wants me.
Hey, why don't you ask me what l'm wearing to the party? Hmm, why don't l? Vera, what are you going to wear tonight? Da dum! Cigarettes, candy, cigarettes? This is the costume l'm wearing in the bit part l do for Charlie Noymann's picture.
Boy, would the wardrobe department be furious if they found out l borrowed it for a party.
Like? There are things about the Royal Pacific Court that l'm going to miss.
Cigarette girls aren't supposed to sit down with their customers.
l know, but you're a very special customer.
Mr.
Schuyler's bungalow is right around here.
You a friend of his? l'm his brother-in-law, not his friend.
Oh, l guess you dropped by to wish him bon voyage, huh? ls he going somewhere? Oh, he's leaving for Mexico ne_ week.
Here it is.
Mr.
Schuyler? Ahem.
You've got company.
Frank, what are you doing in L.
A.
? l came to see you.
Um, this is my brother-in-law, Frank MacManus; Vera Jordan.
How do you do? Um, Vera isn't really a cigarette girl.
She's-- l'm not interested in the occupation or profession - that occupies Miss Jordan's time.
- Real charmer, isn't he? Look, Phil, l've got to run.
l'll see you tonight.
How about a drinkie? There we are.
l forgot-- you don't drink.
And l hadn't forgotten that you do very little else.
The manager tells me that you're leaving for Mexico ne_ week.
That's right.
Well, l'm not surprised that you wouldn't bother keeping us posted on your plans.
l've had it, Phil.
You're no good and you never will be.
l warned you the last time that l wasn't taking any more trouble from you.
- Talking for yourself or my sister? - Both of us.
Being my wife's brother doesn't give you the right to sign my name to a check.
l thought l could pay you back before you found out.
So l didn't.
So what? Two handwriting experts are ready to testify in court that this signature is a forgery.
You know, most people think that they have to work in order to survive.
But of course that thought would never occur to you.
Relax, Frankie, relax.
My financial worries are over for good.
l'm gonna be rich.
Well, this forged check is for _3,OOO.
- Do you have it? - No, but l can get it.
You'd better get it.
Because if l don't have this money by the time l leave Los Angeles tonight, l am going to promer charges against you-- criminal charges.
ls that clear, Mr.
Schuyler? - [phone ringing.]
- [woman singing over speakers.]
Winthrope residence.
Yes, Mr.
Schuyler.
Yes, Mr.
White is back from Europe, but he's not at home.
He's at the university.
She's listening.
Be quiet, please.
Yes, l'll tell him, Mr.
Schuyler.
Grace dear l dislike constantly reminding you that this is the White residence and that l am Mrs.
Damion White, not Miss Winthrope.
l'm sorry, Mrs.
White.
It won't happen again.
Mona, stop making [Yiddish word.]
about who gets what billing here at your house and listen to the score.
l've got to have your decision today-- now! l tell you, this is the greatest musical Alex Chase ever wrote.
Tailor-made for you, baby, believe me.
That song, Jerry, that song.
That's the title song rrom pearJs and Jade? Well, it's only a tape recording from a rehearsal run-through at the Santa Barbara try-out.
And Lucy's voice isn't much, but just listen to it, Mona.
And more than anything else, that one song is why l called and insisted you put an end to this crazy two-year honeymoon of yours, come back from Europe immediately and go to work again.
lf l agree to go back to work and star in Alex's show, Charlie Noymann will finance a Broadway run and a picture? That show with that song in it, right? We'll recast the show.
You'll take over the starring role.
One week in Boston.
Ho ho! Then look out, Times Square.
With you starring in it, Pearls and Jade could run on Broadway for years.
Then the multimillion-dollar movie musical starring Mona Winthrope in her triumphant return to the screen.
Jerry Janda, even without those ridiculous elevator shoes, you are the biggest and the best agent in all of Hollywood.
You'll-- you'll do it, Mona? Do it? Of course l'll do it.
Nothing would make me happier.
- Oh, Mr.
White.
- Hello, Grace.
Mona, that song.
- Oh, Damion.
- [turns om song.]
l didn't expect you home till just before the party tonight.
l have to get right back.
l forgot to take some papers to the university this morning.
Hello, Jerry.
How's the agency business? Ho ho! Booming, Professor-- booming.
Come to the studio with me, Mona.
Having Charlie hear you rave about Alex's score may keep his fingers from trembling when he steers his pen across the bottom of the most expensive contract he ever signed! - [laughs.]
- Charlie can wait.
Right now l'm going to rush right over to Alex's.
l think the talented composer deserves to hear me rave much more than Charlie Noymann.
[laughs.]
Mona, l started to ask you about-- - Later, darling.
Later.
- Bye, Professor.
Oh, Damion, don't be late for the party tonight, huh? Oh, Mr.
White, there's been a Mr.
Schuyler-- Mr.
Philip Schuyler-- trying to reach you on the phone all morning.
Phil? That's a coincidence.
Okay, thank you, Grace.
- Oh, Grace? - Yes, sir? When l came into the house just now, l heard a song.
Mr.
Janda, the agent, brought a tape recording over to play for Miss Winth-- Oh, l'm sorry-- Mrs.
White.
Well, what did she say about the song-- the one they were listening to? She seemed quite excited about it.
ls there anything else, sir? Did that Mr.
Schuyler leave a number? Oh yes.
lt's Olive-4-1654.
Thank you, Grace.
Phil, Damion White.
Fine, fine.
We got back from Europe late last night.
Yes, l know you've been calling me, Phil.
But look, there's something l've got to talk to you about.
Now-- now listen, Phil.
What are you talking about? Unless you want to see me in jail, you'll have to give me _3,OOO this afternoon, Damion.
_3,ooo? Well well, the barefooted Bernhardt.
Beauty and talent both-- divine actress, superbly endowed by a beneficent deity.
l guess her husband's pretty talented too.
Which means what? Oh, you'll find out when she asks about the song.
Well, back to the well.
Alex! Hi, Alex! Mona, Mona, darling Hey, baby, you're soaking wet.
- Yes.
l love it.
- Come on.
Freda's inside.
The score is divine, Alex-- simply divine.
It's such beautiful music.
- Then you'll do the show? - Of course.
Hello, Freda.
How's my favorite composer's favorite wife? Flat where l should be sharp.
- Here, dear, have a drink.
- Thank you.
To Pearls and Jade, to its wonde_ul star and to success.
To lots of money.
Hear hear.
To a beautiful show with an even more beautiful title song which you stole from my husband, you nasty stinker.
Oh! [Freda laughing.]
Oh.
Oh, the second act of, um Shanghai Wife.
Or was it Hong Kong WÃdow? Freda, you're disgusting when you drink.
l think she may really be angry, Alex.
Here, you've got jam on your face.
And you've got booze on the brain.
Another drink, you may fall om that stool.
And what will you fall om if your very best friend sues you for plagiarism? What are you talking about? l stole nobody's song-- not Damion's-- nobody's.
Pearls and Jade is mine, an original Alexander Chase song.
Yes, stolen from an original melody by Professor Damion White, composed over two years ago.
Or didn't you think l'd recognize it with those upside-down Gershwin lyrics you added? This is ridiculous.
Freda, baby, tell her.
Tell her how wrong she is.
Mona, Alex says to tell you you're wrong.
You see, he lies and l swear to it.
Damion was playing that tune on a piano at a party the night l met him-- no words, just melody.
My own private melody that you heard me hum more than once, Alex.
Professors, soda jerks, gas-station attendants-- everybody's a songwriter.
Oh, Mona baby, l've written thousands of melodies and completely forgotten hundreds of them.
So l hear a song; so it's like one of mine.
So what? l forget it, that's all.
Oh, ''like''? Pearls and Jade is like Damion's song? Really, Alex, l do think that puny little beard of yours is just a set of earmums temporarily out of place.
All right, all right, so there is a slight similarity.
So how many notes are there in the scales? So l'll pay him for it.
Only no credit.
Only my name alone goes on Pearls and Jade.
Mona, be reasonable.
l need this show.
Without the song there's no show.
l need this credit-- a solo credit.
Perry Mason, please.
This is Mona White-- Mona Winthrope calling.
Damion's a professor, a well-known teacher.
What does a song credit mean to him? Nothing.
But a great deal to me.
We're going up to Santa Barbara tomorrow to see the try-out and l want to surprise him-- his wife starring in a show with him name on it.
Perry? Perry darling.
Mona.
When did you get back? Mmm.
You've already compared the songs? No doubt about it.
Songs? What are you talking about? l see-- out and out plagiarism.
No legal question of it at all? Mona, if you're using me as a legal shoe-horn, l warn you there'll be a bill at the end of the month.
We can sue for how much? As much as that, Perry? Tonight's Halloween, not April Fool's Day.
Who is it you're bamboozling this time? Pe_ect, Perry, pe_ect.
Let's do that.
[laughs.]
Goodbye for now.
What do you know? It's empty.
Freda, l think l'll have another one.
You'd better have one too, Alex-- double.
[Janda.]
The day after Pearls and Jade open in New York, every studio in town will be bidding sky high for the picture rights.
How can you waste time haggling over the price, Charlie? The last three musicals Alex wrote died before they ever got tot New York.
Nobody was interested in buying the motion-picture rights.
So why should Charles Noymann Productions be interested in this show? Pearls and Jade isn't going to die.
We'll all make a fortune and you know it.
Come on, Charlie.
Here-- take your pen and let's get this over with, huh? You're a good agent, Janda-- too good not to know that a deal like this isn't going to run away.
Now tonight at the party Mona's going to give at her beach house-- tonight l'll make an announcement and sign.
Hey, what's the matter with you? You keep staring at that whiskey glass like it was a crystal ball or something.
Maybe l'm looking into my soul, Vera.
- Hmm.
- [laughing.]
Ah! Know what? Phil Schuyler is a louse.
[children playing.]
Would you send a cab to the Royal Pacific Court? Thank you.
- Hey, where are you going? - Malibu.
Well, what about the party we're supposed to go to tonight? l'll be back in plenty of time.
[All.]
Trick or treat! l wouldn't want to cross this bunch.
Give them something quick, Vera.
Vera, do me a favor-- stay here and dole out the candy until l get back.
lf my brother-in-law stops by while l'm gone, give him this.
Phil, about the trip to Mexico, you did get a ticket for me, didn't you? You're lots of fun, Vera, but a little old for tricks or treat.
Phil boy is going to Mexico alone.
[recording playing.]
than pearls and jade.
[all cheering.]
lt's all right, Grace.
l'll get it.
- Hello.
- Hi.
My car broke down.
Would you be kind enough to let me use your telephone? Oh, of course.
Come on in.
There's a phone in there.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
[jazz playing.]
Grace, how do you know that man's name is Phil Schuyler? He's called here so many times, l recognized his voice immediately.
[operator speaking.]
[Schuyler's voice.]
Please send a tow truck to 2446 Malibu Road as quickly as possible.
Mona, darling, now you've ignored me all evening.
What kind of way is that to treat a producer, hmm? [inaudible.]
[door bangs.]
[Children.]
Trick or treat! Phil? Phil? Rudy! - What's wrong, Miss Jordan? - l don't know.
Just hurry up and get that door unlocked.
Wait-- wait here.
[turns om water.]
Rudy, what is it? Rudy! Mr.
Schuyler-- he's dead.
No.
No! Oh, no no no.
Perry! Perry Mason, what are you doing out and about at this ghastly hour? Good morning, sweetheart.
lf l knew you were coming out so early, l would have waited for my swim.
Perry, l just talked to you on the telephone.
What are you doing here? You said you wanted to see me.
Well, yes, l do, but l intended to meet you in your omice.
l want to talk about the blackmail right now.
The what? Mona, l was going to explain it all this morning.
There's something l should have told you years ago.
Damion, what's wrong? Phil Schuyler, man Damion went to see Iast night, threatened to blackmail him.
Mona, please don't be upset.
Phil's an old buddy of mine, but for some reason he's gone sour.
He just doesn't make any sense.
l'm sure with Perry's help l'll be able to straighten him out.
l read the morning paper after l spoke to you, Damion.
Phil Schuyler was murdered last night.
l'm sorry, Mr.
Janda, but Miss Winthrope left orders that she was not to be disturbed.
So l'm disobeying the orders.
Gracie, don't play games.
Charlie Noymann is stalling on those contracts.
lf l'm going to get him to sign them, l'll need Mona in his omice with me in a half an hour.
lt'll take her longer than that to decide what mood to wear - let alone what clothes to put on.
- l don't know, Mr.
J-- Excuse me.
Police department-- Lieutenant Anderson, Homicide.
Would you tell Mr.
Damion White l'd like to see him, please? [jazz playing.]
- Freda-- - Alex, tell the man to go away or invite him in for a drink.
lf l wasn't here, you probably would.
Would l? l wonder.
No, l think l detest men with beards.
The fact that this is private property doesn't seem to bother you.
No it doesn't.
- It bothers me.
- [jazz continues.]
That song-- it's a pretty tune.
Yeah, sure is.
Of course the tape is bad.
You know those 3:OO in the morning jam sessions-- everybody well lubricated with booze.
Where did you record that song? The question isn't so much ''where,'' is it? [turns om song.]
When is what you want to know.
- Look you-- - Alex! When? Over two years ago, Mr.
Chase.
[panting.]
Alex! The police-- they've taken Damion away.
Police? Damion? What are you talking about? A strange murder weapon, wouldn't you say, Perry? We found your name and telephone number on that pad by the telephone, Mr.
White.
Now you claim you followed Phil Schuyler home last night, but stayed only a few minutes to talk to him.
Now tell me, when you were here, where was this heater? Well, l'm not sure.
l think it was there by the door.
Ah.
And how was Mr.
Schuyler dressed? He-- he was wearing a bathrobe.
Was the water in the bathtub running? l don't recall whether it was or not.
The murderer plugged the heater in here, opened the door, tossed the heater into the bathtub while Schuyler was taking a bath, and electrocuted him.
Now Mr.
White, you're sure that Schuyler wasn't taking that bath while you were here? l said he wasn't.
Miss Jordan, is this the man you saw Ieaving this bungalow shortly before the manager discovered that Phil Schuyler was dead? Yes, him.
Andy, Mr.
White told you he was here.
Mr.
White, do you drive a blue foreign sports car? A what? A blue foreign sports car.
Is that what you-- No l don't.
Look, l don't see how l can help any further, so do you have any objections to my leaving now? No, but l would object to your leaving the city, Mr.
White.
Damion, l think we'd better-- He's the one who killed Mr.
Schuyler.
How come the police let him go? Perry? Perry, l just left the cabbie who picked up Phil Schuyler, drove him to Malibu, waited for him, then dropped him back here at the Royal Pacific.
- Good work, Paul.
- And that's not all.
l got a tip that the police had a pick up out for a hot witness in this case-- some bearded beatnik named Leonard Buckman.
Well, they just canceled the bulletin.
- Meaning they found Mr.
Buckman.
- Mm-hmm.
But it's where they found him that makes it interesting.
All right.
Where? At the beach in front of Alexander Chase's place.
Were you acquainted with Phil Schuyler? No.
And now that he's dead, l never will have an opportunity to become acquainted with him, will l? Mr.
Chase, in between policemen, l only had the chance to speak briefly with Damion.
He claims he gave Phil Schuyler _3,OOO yesterday afternoon.
Why do you say ''claims'' instead of saying Damion gave Schuyler the _3,OOO? The money wasn't found in Schuyler's bungalow.
Mr.
Mason, l gave Damion _3,OOO yesterday afternoon.
Why? Because he asked me to.
What reasons had he for wanting the money? None.
l didn't ask him.
Did anyone see you turn that money over to him? l did.
And that's not all l saw and heard, is it, Alex? Freda, shut up.
You're drinking too much.
And talking too much? lt's the truth, Mr.
Mason.
l saw the bearded Buckman, the man you were asking us about before, outside our house, and-- - Freda! - --and l heard him playing a tape recording of a wonde_ul song-- Alex's wonde_ul song.
Pearls and Jade.
That's the name of it, isn't it, Alex? Mr.
Mason, about the _3,OOO--- Oh, yes, Mr.
Mason-- the _3,OOO.
What my dear husband is trying to say is that he may have trouble remembering he gave his best friend Damion that money in the middle of a plagiarism suit.
Sue Alex for plagiarism? Darling Alex? Now wherever would he dream up such nonsense? Or was it Freda? Perry, you know how that woman carries on.
Now stop it, Mona.
You called me, remember? Perry, you know me better than that.
You can't really believe l ever intended to hurt dear old Alex.
l guess by now Damion has told you that Alex wasn't the person being hurt? l told Mona about it, but how did you find out? Let's just say l guessed.
Alex didn't write Pearls and Jade, and neither did you.
That song was written by Phil Schuyler.
Now about the foreign blue sports car, did you follow your husband out to that bungalow court last night? Yes, that was my car.
l just didn't understand what was going on, so l followed him there and waited outside.
And then l followed him home.
Let's get back to your calling me yesterday, Damion.
What about the song? Perry, it was just a silly stupid mistake-- a lonely college prof trying to impress the beautiful musical-comedy star he had a crush on.
You know, l told Phil about it ages ago, and he laughed then.
lt was one of hundreds of melodies he wrote and forgot.
l should have explained it to Mona long ago.
And when l heard the melody had words and was part of Alex's show, l called Phil.
l told him he was welcome to the credit and the money from the song.
But he didn't want to talk about it then.
He was just desperate to get hold of some money fast.
That _3,OOO.
Did he say why he wanted it? Yes-- some personal problem with his brother-in-law.
lt had nothing to do with the song; just a temporary loan.
l gather he was less casual when he came out here to the house later.
He was a dimerent man.
He was hard, nasty.
He was threatening to make all kinds of trouble.
And then when he asked me for _50,OOO, l thought he was out of his mind.
He left before l could even talk to him about it.
So you followed him to his place? Yes.
l couldn't let it stand just like that.
lt was my fault, one way or another.
He told me he wasn't interested in potential earnings from the song; it might or might not be a hit.
Now Alex and l could work it out whatever way we wanted, but Phil insisted on _50,OOO right then and there.
What did you say to that? l turned him down.
l told him to go ahead and say or do whatever he wanted.
Excuse me? Mr.
White? l want you to come to police headquarters.
l'm booking you for the murder of Phil Schuyler.
Lieutenant, l doubt that you have sumicient evidence to-- l have more evidence than l need.
Not only were Damion White's fingerprints on the heater that was used to electrocute Phil Schuyler, l have an eye witness to testify that Damion White was the one and only person who could have killed him.
[Hamilton Burger.]
In the matter now pending before this court, Your Honor, of the state versus Damion White, we shall confine ourselves to the primary factors of motive and opportunity.
We will prove that the deceased, Phil Schuyler, received money from Damion White and was demanding still more money.
And we will prove that Damion White and only Damion White could have murdered Philip Schuyler.
Mr.
MacManus, did Phil Schuyler tell you how he planned to get the _3,OOO to repay you for the money he'd taken from your account by forging your name to a check for that amount? Well, no, not directly.
Although when l told him it was either pay up or face charges, he said he'd have no trouble getting the money.
And while l was there, he placed a call.
To whom did he place that call? To the defendant, Damion White.
Yes, l gave Damion _3,OOO earlier that afternoon, but it was a loan-- a temporary loan, that's all.
And while you were making this temporary loan to the defendant of _3,OOO, did he happen to mention the allegedly plagiarized melody and its disputed authorship? Oh, l believe he did casually say something about not worrying about it, - that he would-- - Go on, Mr.
Chase.
The defendant said he would what? Damion said he would take care of the matter.
Your witness.
Mr.
Chase, you had a succession of unsuccessful musical comedies.
Your income had been seriously depleted; your reputation considerably shaken in the industry.
That is true, is it not? You make it sound like l was not only bankrupt artistically and financially, but virtually dead and buried.
Nonsense.
Then you weren't at all concerned about who would get credit for the music to that song or just how that credit might conceivably amect the terms under which the show would be sold? Oh, l might have been somewhat concerned, but not after Mona's party, when l was told.
And what were you told? That-- well, that he was just stalling on the contracts; the deal would go through.
Pearls and Jade would still be presented on Broadway and still be made into a top movie musical.
And who gave you those assurances? The only man who could, Mr.
Mason-- the producer, Charlie Noymann.
The new Alex Chase musical was booked down the Pacific coast-- Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles-- strictly a shoestring try-out tour.
The show bombed, By the time we hit Santa Barbara, there were more people on stage than in the audience.
So you closed the show in Santa Barbara, Mr.
Kir_ood? As the show's director that's what l suggested to Mr# Chase.
l didn't think there was anything worth salvaging.
But he was pretty desperate, he said, and insisted on a fast rewrite and another try-out.
Well, was Mr.
Chase able to improve the show? And how.
The only really good thing in the presentation was a dance number in the second act-- a real catchy melody.
What was this catchy melody? A piece called Pearls and Jade.
Well, Alex added lyrics to it.
And with a few changes in rhythm and orchestration, it became our new running love song, new first-act production number, and our finale.
Now, Mr.
Kir_ood, you reopened the show in Santa Barbara for a second try-out, is that correct? The show was a smash-- rave reviews, standing room only for each pe_ormance.
And all thanks to that one new title song, Pearls and Jade.
Even got a nibble from a top movie producer who saw the show and flipped.
Mr.
Kir_ood, who was that producer? Charles Noymann.
Late in the afternoon, l received a telephone call at the studio from Phil Schuyler.
He sort of vaguely hinted that there might be some question about who wrote the melody for the title song of Pearls and Jade.
Then he intimated that for a small insurance payment, as he called it, l could save a lot of money and avoid legal entanglements in buying the show.
What was your answer to that? l told him if he had documented proof, l'd be willing to talk with him.
He stammered a while and then hung up.
Just a crank.
Now Mr.
Noymann, did you subsequently see this Phil Schuyler? Yes, at Mona's party.
Damion was having an argument with some man out on the patio.
l found out the following morning from the pictures in the paper that that man was Schuyler.
Now this argument, Mr.
Noymann-- did that appear to be a violent argument? Violent? Well, there were no blows.
Thank you, Mr.
Noymann.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Noymann, you had never seen Phil Schuyler.
How could you possibly know that the man who called you was in fact Phil Schuyler? Well, he said he was.
Financing a Broadway show is quite costly, isn't it? All in all, your contract with Alex Chase and Mona Winthrope must have involved a considerable sum of money.
Yes, l'd say well over _1 million is a considerable sum.
You received a call omering you insurance, as you put it, in the face of that _1 million.
Would you have this court believe that you summarily dismissed it as a crank call? l just wasn't sure the call was on the level, that's all.
Sure, if l could have gotten the rights for even _50,OOO to the title song, it would have made a big dimerence.
Exactly how big? l'd have picked up the book and score for peanuts, made a separate deal with Mona.
l could have wrapped up the whole thing for less than half what Janda was asking.
To save over _500,OOO, you must have done much more than merely reassure Alex Chase.
Before going to Mona's party, you went to see Phil Schuyler, did you not? Look here, Mason, don't start throwing accusations at me.
You said it yourself-- l could have saved _500,OOO if l made that deal with Schuyler, so why would l want to kill him? Answer my question.
You did see Phil Schuyler, did you not? No.
That is absolutely not-- N-O-T-- not true.
l told the district attorney the whole thing.
l sat in my car across the street, waiting until l saw his visitor leave.
Then l saw Miss Jordan.
She was working in one of my pictures.
She came home just about the time the visitor was leaving, at about 8:OO.
l started, yes, to get out of the car, but l thought it best not to be seen.
So l left without seeing Schuyler.
This visitor-- who was it? Alex and Mona's agent, Jerry Janda.
When l got back to my omice after seeing Charlie Noymann, Leonard Buckman was waiting to see me.
He had some crazy story that Phil Schuyler and not Alex Chase wrote the music _or the song Pearls and Jade.
Did you place any credence in the story that Leonard Buckman told you? No, not then.
l figured he was just some sort of a crank who knew about the trouble between Mona and Alex and was trying to get in on the act.
l gave him _20 and told him to beat it and not to bother me.
A couple of hours later, around T:OO, l received a call at home from Phil Schuyler himself.
He confirmed what Buckman had said and asked me to come to his place right away.
Did the decedent try to e_ort money from you, Mr.
Janda? Well, not directly, no, though he was certainly fishing for an omer.
l omered him _5,OOO for a quit claim on the music to the song.
And what was his reaction to that? He laughed at my omer; said that if l would give him _5,OOO to be quiet, there was somebody else who would probably give him _50,OOO.
Somebody else? Mr.
Janda, did Phil Schuyler say who he intended to get the money from? Did he say who he was so sure would give him _50,OOO? Yes-- the defendant, Damion White.
Hamilton Burger is certainly emicient-- motive and opportunity.
He laid it out like a road map.
Well, he's sure loaded with opportunity.
He's got an eye witness who locks White-- your client-- and only your client right into the murder.
As far as motive is concerned, we all know what type of person Damion is.
Just wait till Burger sums it up-- a successful Broadway play, a spectacular movie, the stage-struck professor's name in lights.
Oh boy.
Perry, if this were a full trial, you could put the stage-struck professor on the stand and let him tell what really happened.
Would you as a jury believe that Damion's fingerprints were on that heater because he tripped over a cord and then had to set the heater upright, or-- Or that he got his fingerprints on it when he tossed it into the bathtub to electrocute Phil Schuyler.
l see what you mean.
Which leads us right back to motive and Damion.
White isn't the only one.
Noymann could be more deeply involved than he's admitted.
And Janda stood to lose a big fat whopping commission.
And let's not forget the composer with the taking ways-- Alex Chase.
He could be up to his neck in hock.
Alex Chase? How's that, Paul? Well, it's only a possibility, but l found out this afternoon that Chase couldn't find a backer for his last musical, so he must have backed it himself.
He probably lost everything he had in the world.
Our Mr.
Chase-- composer and bankrupt angel.
''And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou?'' Della, that's it.
That's what? Satan and the angel.
l want to know more about that angel.
Now wait a minute.
l've gone a lot of places to get a lot of things-- And this time you're going to outdo yourself, tomorrow in court.
How? Well, first the angel and then Satan.
As a matter of fact, Iet's make it two Satans.
So when l caught a rehearsal of the new second try-out in Santa Barbara, l couldn't believe it.
l went to see Phil.
l told him that a tune that he had written had suddenly acquired a set of lyrics and had become the title song in a new musical play by Alexander Chase.
And when Phil Schuyler found that they were using his music without his knowledge, what did he do? l told Phil he should get in touch with Alexander Chase right away, demand credit and royalties for the song.
Phil said that he would, but first he had to have a talk with the person responsible for stealing his music.
Who could that be if it wasn't Alexander Chase? Phil wouldn't tell me what the guy's name was, but he admitted it was someone else-- not Alexander Chase-- who had stolen the music-- some college-professor friend of his.
Some college-professor friend of his? Your witness.
Mr.
Buckman, instead of calling Charles Noymann and saying you were Phil Schuyler, - why didn't you call Mr.
Chase? - l didn't call Noymann.
And l maintain that you did.
There are two possible explanations for your visit to Mr.
Chase the morning after the murder.
ln either case, blackmail had to have been involved.
You either didn't know that Phil Schuyler was dead, or you had previous knowledge that Phil Schuyler had been murdered and-- l didn't know Phil had been murdered.
If l had, l would have gone to the police.
But you did to go Alexander Chase to blackmail him, and it was you, not Phil Schuyler, who called Charles Noymann.
All right, all right, l admit that.
But l never got around to blackmailing Mr.
Chase.
When you impersonated Phil Schuyler and called Charles Noymann, he said he would speak further with you if you had documentation of the true authorship o_ Pearls and Jade.
But you didn't have such documentation, did you? Well, no.
Yet the following morning you were playing a two-year-old tape recording of that same music for Alex Chase.
We can prove that that tape recording belonged to Phil Schuyler.
All right, all right, so l stole a lousy tape.
Phil had no right to brush me om-- no right, do you hear? l was the one spotted the tune.
l was the one gave him the idea for the whole squeeze play.
Phil Schuyler outwitted you, didn't he? ln your presence, he called Janda and asked him to come right over.
And then what did he say to you, Mr.
Buckman? Did he omer to cut you in? No.
No.
''Blow,'' he said.
''Beat it.
You bother me.
'' Well, l bothered him, all right.
l bothered him real good.
l hung around till he took om, then went in and swiped the tape.
lf he wouldn't cut me in, l was going to cut myself in.
l gave Mr.
MacManus, his brother-in-law, the envelope that Phil left for him.
Then l went to my own place and started getting ready for the masquerade party that Phil and l were supposed to go to.
[Burger.]
Now while you were in your own bungalow, Miss Jordan, did you see anyone enter or leave Phil Schuyler's bungalow? Yes l did, about ten minutes before l called the manager and he found Phil dead, l saw the defendant, Damion White, Ieave Phil's place.
And in that ten minutes, Miss Jordan-- between the time you saw Damion White Ieave the bungalow and the time the decedent's body was found, did you see anyone else at all enter or leave that bungalow? - No, l didn't-- - Thank you.
--but l wasn't watching all the time.
Yes, but you told-- Well, who was watching all the time? Well, the manager, Rudy.
Thank you, Miss Jordan.
Well, sir, it was Halloween, you know, and the kids and everything-- well, they were around.
Well, anyhow, right after dinner, l discovered the electric sign out in front ain't workin'.
So l got up on a ladder to fix it.
Well, the way l'm standing up there, see, l'm facing the court.
And all the bungalows open out into that middle court, you see? And there's no way to get in or out the bungalows without going through that court.
And so there l am.
l mean, l can hardly help keeping my eye on things, you might say.
Did that include keeping your eye on Phil Schuyler's bungalow? Oh, yes sir.
Now Miss Jordan there, she went in.
And then Mr.
Schuyler's brother-in-law-- him too, he went in.
And then he came out and so did she.
And then Mr.
Schuyler came home.
And after Mr.
Schuyler came home, how many other people entered or left that bungalow? Only one-- one person went in and come out.
And nobody-- absolutely nobody went in or out after that until l found the dead body.
And who was that one and only person, Mr.
Mahlsted? Him-- Mr.
Damion White.
Mr.
Mason.
Rudy, you're positive that no one went into that bungalow after the defendant left? Yes sir, positive.
You ever look at something and not see it? l don't understand.
How long have you been living in that bungalow court, Rudy? Now this is a photograph of your bungalow-- a photograph of the room in which you've spent 20 years.
Now the design on the wallpaper-- tell me-- does the pattern run vertically, up and down, or does it go from side to side? This way.
Side to side.
Now the roses between the stripes on that wallpaper-- do they go between every stripe or between every other stripe? Between every stripe.
Now take a look, Rudy.
l was wrong both times.
We see but we do not see.
Your Honor, l must protest these circus side-show tactics.
What kind of stunt is this? [Judge.]
Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
l believe l understand where defense counsel is heading.
The court is interested in pursuing this particular point.
So unless you have a specific objection, we will continue.
Oh, by all means, Your Honor, let's have some dancing girls and a snake charmer too.
That will do, Mr.
Burger.
You may proceed, Mr.
Mason.
Yes, Your Honor.
Now Rudy, the children trick-or-treating, were they still making rounds when you unlocked the door and found the body? Oh sure, they were coming all the time, from 5:OO on.
Even after Damion White Ieft the bungalow? Oh yes, they-- they'd come back, you know.
Oh no no, Mr.
Mason, not those children.
l know them.
l know them all.
Suppose we find out just how well you do know them, Rudy.
All right, children, would you stand in a line here, please? Rudy, who is Satan #1? Brucie Hillman.
That's the Karger boy, Gene-- Gene Karger.
Oh, the little gypsy, that's easy-- Michele Strull.
That's not fair, Rudy.
You helped me buy my costume at the corner drugstore.
Satan #2, Rudy? His costume comes from that same drugstore.
Do you recognize him? Oh, sure, the boy who likes to dig holes-- Don Carmichael.
Hudson's the name-- Joe Hudson.
How tall are you, Mr.
Hudson? Just the same height as Mr.
Janda without his elevator shoes.
All right, children, thank you.
Mr.
Janda, Mr.
Chase's last flop-- it wasn't his money that financed that show.
It was yours, was it not? l lent him the money-- all l had, everything.
You borrowed heavily, hoping that Pearls and Jade would solve everything, but without that contract for Noymann, you were going to be ruined, weren't you? Yes.
Yes, that Schuyler, pressuring Damion, pressuring me.
You followed Damion and Mona to Schuyler's, picked up a costume at the drugstore from a clerk who is prepared to identity you.
You then waited until Damion left.
Then you took om your shoes and joined the children going from bungalow to bungalow and watched for your opportunity to murder Phil Schuyler.
He was in the tub.
l wasn't sure just how l was going to do it until l saw the electric heater.
Mona.
Mona, you were the only really big star l had and you hadn't worked in two years-- two years! Two You've got to understand.
Here was my chance to get my money back, to make even more money, to be on top of the heap again.
But it was all falling apart because of Schuyler, because he had written that melody.
But he was the only one who could prove that-- Schuyler himself.
l had to stop him before he got to Noymann and killed the deal.
l had to! The costume-- it wasn't Satan.
lt was a fool's costume.
From the religious vigil of All Hallow's Eve to murder.
Halloween's come a long way.
''Darkness and worms and shrouds and sepulchers.
'' Paul, you're reciting poetry.
Am l? ''But strength alone is like a fallen angel, Trees uptorn and darkness and worms and shrouds and sepulchers.
'' Hey, what do you know? Keats.
Speaking of fallen angels You mean the kind that go bankrupt backing flop shows? Yes.
You know, l thought Janda's eyes would pop right out of his head when he saw that little old man in the costume.
Yeah, some trick.
Considering the results, wouldn't you say it was more of a treat?