Perry Mason (1957) s05e21 Episode Script
The Case of the Mystified Miner
Itheme.]
Yay! The pirates are coming! The pirates are coming.
[typing.]
Yay, the pirates are coming.
Carlton Campbell, what on earth are you doing here? Shh, don't tell her.
Here.
What's this? Treasure.
[Woman.]
Carlton? Don't let the pirates get it.
They're after me.
[Woman.]
Carlton.
- Carlton-- - Hello, Miss Dow.
Oh, l might've known.
l bring him all the way downtown to have his hair trimmed by Mr.
Campbell's barber, and now l'm worn out before l've even got the boy tied in the chair.
l take it he got away from you.
Hm.
''Governess.
'' l ought to be called a goatherd.
What are you doing in the building on Saturday? About 10 thousand things.
Mr.
Campbell wants everything in order for Miss Corning when she gets here.
Oh, yes, the royal visit.
l suppose that's why he's playing golf today.
Well, Miss Corning's arriving from South America on Sunday, tomorrow, and there are all sorts of statements and reports on her holdings that l'm sure she'll want to inspect.
Why doesn't she keep her nose out of things? Mr.
Campbell has been handling her company pe_ectly well without her, hasn't he? Miss Dow, l'm terribly busy, but l think l just might know where to find Carlton.
Now, why don't you go on downstairs to the barber shop? l promise l'll send him along in the ne_ elevator.
Very well.
Manage things your own way.
All right, Carlton, come along now.
The coast is clear.
- [door closes.]
- l don't want a haircut.
Carlton, where on earth did you get this-- this treasure? Sure, we do it all the time.
l've got a box in my closet, and l gave him one to put in his closet.
l keep all sorts of valuable things.
But this particular box-- He doesn't mind.
You see, last night, l put my treasure in his room-- lt's safer there-- and this morning l decided to take his instead.
That's all.
Carlton, if your father doesn't know you have this, well, don't you think maybe l better keep it for a while? Why? l know.
Why don't we put it in the safe, and then nobody could touch it, not even pirates or anybody.
That's a wonde_ul idea.
Besides, you have to run along now.
l promised Miss Dow.
Well, if l can have it back whenever l want so Daddy won't get mad.
Of course you can.
There.
Now, scoot.
Press the button in the elevator marked ''one.
'' Miss Fisher, don't you like me anymore? Of course l do, darling.
l'm just upset today.
l still so much to do before Miss Corning comes, and l'm all alone-- There.
Hello, South Lake Country Club? l want to speak to Mr.
Endicott Campbell, please.
This is his private secretary speaking, and it's e_remely urgent.
But l just have to speak to him, - even if he's playing golf or-- or-- - [phone rings.]
Excuse me, would you hold on? Corning Company, mining and investments.
Well, l'm sorry, but we're closed on Saturday.
Oh, is that so? Well, this is Amelia Corning speaking, whoever you are.
What? Who? You heard me, young lady.
l'm Amelia Corning, and l'm sitting here in the Los Angeles Airport and-- Well, don't just splutter at me.
When l arrive anyplace, l expect to be greeted.
l expect to be met right now.
l tried to reach Mr.
Campbell.
l thought l knew where he was this morning, but the place l thought he'd gone couldn't seem to locate him-- Where was that, country club or race track? Well, of course not.
Mr.
Campbell isn't the sort of man-- Do you like Mr.
Campbell, or do you just think you ought be loyal to him? Well, l've really only worked for him about a year.
What l meant was-- You're a very poor liar, Suzanne.
Susan.
Susan Fisher.
That's it.
Speak louder.
Now, here.
You take care of all the baggage payments and get us a taxi.
My eyes aren't very good, but there are some _10 bills in there, and you'd better take several because first l want you to take me to the hotel to register and then-- But these are hundred-dollar bills.
That's right.
So they are.
The tens are on the other side.
There.
l think you and l are going to get on very well, Susan.
After we leave the hotel, you'll take me straight to the omice.
But on Saturday, with no one else around, l really don't know enough about the business to-- Well, l do, young lady, and l'll give the orders.
Why do you think l arrived here a day early? Hm? l'm afraid that's all l can find on the Oklahoma property, Miss Corning.
All right, now what about this Mojave Monarch? - Mojave? - What do you know about it? Well, it's a subsidiary company, gold mining.
They have just that one mine, l believe.
You're lying again.
No, l'm not.
But those books are all we have here, and the cancelled checks.
l'm sure any other records would be out in Mojave.
There's a man there named Ken Lowry there, l believe.
Hm.
lf you like, l can read you the figures we do have here-- l can read very well myself, thank you.
lt just takes a little time, that's all.
Well, what about this Smelting Company report? - Do you still want to see it? - Don't change the subject.
lf it makes you nervous to talk about the Mojave Monarch, then say so.
Miss Corning, please, if you'd just wait until Mr.
Campbell comes Will you stop dragging him in? He may be your immediate superior, Susan, but once and for all l am the Corning Comp'any.
Furthermore, l think these checks are phonies.
What? You heard me.
l'm going to take these records with me to the hotel, and l'm going to have a handwriting expert look at them.
l'll bet Endicott Campbell endorsed all these checks himself.
Oh, no.
No.
Why, that would be-- Forgery or embezzlement, of course.
Maybe both.
Now, l want you to put these books into the dispatch case there.
and find another so l can carry the rest.
Miss Corning, please, don't you think that-- What in heaven's name is that? Well? lt's-- It's mine.
Yours.
Don't tell me you keep shoes in the safe.
Unless, of course, it's the lunch you didn't eat today.
No, it's-- it's letters-- l mean, the only reason l put them in there was because you phoned, and then l hurried out-- Never mind, my dear.
It's all right.
But now, run into one of the other omices and find me another briefcase so we can put these things together.
l'm going to meet your boss for the first time at my hotel room tonight and l intend to be quite ready for him.
l don't blame you for being upset.
Poor dear, for one reason or another you really think the same thing l do, don't you? This Endicott Campbell l hired is nothing but a crook.
[phone rings.]
Hello? Oh, Mr.
Campbell, where have you been? l've left messages all over for you.
Well, Miss Corning's in town, and she wants to see you.
Miss Corning? What in the name of-- What did she say? What did she ask you? Why can't you tell me? Wait, Mr.
Campbell.
There's something else, something you have to know first.
Your son Carlton came by the omice this morning, with Miss Dow, and he had a shoebox of yours, and it was full of money.
Money? At-- At least what? Two-hundred th-- Susan, you're crazy.
Absolutely crazy.
He might have had my dress shoes, but-- Well, of course l don't believe you.
Now, stop all this lying nonsense.
But it's true.
The box is still down there in the omice safe.
Mr.
Campbell, l am not a liar.
Well, l think you are.
Of all the stupid, vicious tales, and to drag my son into it.
All right, Mr.
Campbell, if you won't even listen-- Well, l was only trying to protect you, and-- and goodbye.
You're positive the little boy didn't look into the box? l'm sure not, thank heaven.
Why ''thank heaven''? Even a seven-year-old witness would help.
l don't understand.
You didn't actually count the money, did you? Well, what if someone should accuse you of taking some of it, Susan? But it's Mr.
Campbell's money.
Carlton wasn't lying.
Well, why should anyone want to accuse me? To discredit you.
Susan, l gather you've been concerned with certain irregularities within the company.
lt's the Mojave Monarch, the mine that sends all the bills for us to pay.
Well, the record of income from it is supposed to be kept out there.
What's the matter? Isn't there a record? A couple of weeks ago, l learned something quite by accident.
l have a boyfriend who's a rock-hound, and we were out in the desert, and coming home, we saw this sign, an arrow that said ''Mojave Monarch.
'' Well, l thought it would be fun to go out there and see what the place looked like.
Well, there isn't anything there anymore.
lt's abandoned, deserted, for years.
What time did Miss Corning want to see your boss, this Mr.
Campbell? Della, you take care of locking up, will you? Right.
Come on, Miss Fisher.
l think we'd better attend that meeting.
We? l'm afraid you are going to need a lawyer.
[Campbell.]
Susan, what the devil are you doing here? Hello, Mr.
Campbell.
We're going up to see Miss Corning.
Oh, no, you are not.
You've made enough trouble already.
Mr.
Campbell, my name is Mason, Perry Mason.
l'm with Miss Fisher as her attorney Attorney? Of all the nerve.
And l suppose she's told you that cock-and-bull story about the money? lt's absolutely true.
And you've told him who your witnesses were, who saw you find it, put it in the safe? Susan, you've made up this whole thing to cover some of your peculations.
l don't know what they are yet, but before l fire you, young lady-- Now, just a moment, Campbell-- l'll have you know, Mason, that l've been to the omice, l've looked in the safe, and there's absolutely no such box there.
lt-- It's gone? Of course it's gone.
Mr.
Campbell, who were your witnesses? l beg your pardon.
Another thing for you to think about-- the Department of Internal Revenue takes a very dim view of people who keep such large amounts of money hidden.
Now, shall we go upstairs? Will you please tell Miss Corning that Endicott Campbell is here? ls that the lady in the wheelchair? That's right.
- She's not here anymore, sir.
- What? She's checked out.
l took her down in the elevator myself, about T:OO.
Oh, no.
Did she say where she was going? Search me.
One of the boys put her in a cab, though, with her baggage.
Was there a dispatch case? Did she take two very heavy briefcases? That's right, a whole batch of papers and books and things.
Took everything, l guess.
Morning, Paul.
Want the Sunday funnies? l am the funnies.
No luck? Well, we traced her as far as the railroad station.
Found a porter who remembered the wheelchair.
Miss Corning was interested in some records that were supposed to be up in Mojave.
Maybe she decided to go up there on the evening train.
No, Perry.
Amelia Corning bought no ticket and boarded no train.
She just went to the ladies' room and disappeared into thin air.
Well, what about her wheelchair and her luggage? Well, the wheelchair's still there, but not the luggage, not all those confidential company files your client handed her.
They disappeared with Amelia, Iock, stock, and barrel.
All right, Paul.
You'd better get out to the airport.
Why? The airport's where we started looking for old ladies in a hurry.
No, l don't mean Amelia Corning would leave from there.
l mean you've got to go out there and meet her when she comes in.
Perry, you were right.
She just came in on the plane.
l have one of my men talking to her right now.
No, no, he gave her a song and dance.
He even checked her passport.
lt's really Amelia Corning.
Thank you, young man, but l don't understand all this folderol.
Who sent you to meet me? Come, come, young man, speak up.
My name is Amelia Corning, and l expect answers.
l'll have you know l am the Corning Company.
Oh, you're back.
What happened? We saw Miss Corning.
She was really quite nice, not nearly so explosive as-- well, that woman who pretended to be her.
l guess the real Miss Corning doesn't have to put on any acts.
You mean you told her? Everything? l'm such a complete idiot.
Now, take it easy.
You're not in jail yet.
Oh, Perry.
Well, l ought to be.
Letting that creature come in and walk away with every important record the company has.
There's still the matter of that money in the shoebox, Susan.
Miss Corning's not going to take any action against you until she gets at the truth.
But how can she get at the truth now, Perry, without any record of the embezzlement or whatever's been going on at that company? Mr.
Campbell's at her hotel now, trying to explain.
And l'll bet he's telling her all sorts of lies, and l'll bet he put that other woman up to what she did, too.
and now he's going to frame poor Susan.
Now, you take it easy, too, Della.
Della, get Paul in here, would you, please? l want him to take a fast trip.
Trip? To Mojave.
Now, look, l got no time to talk to you, l tell you.
You've got time to stay out ofjail, haven't you? - Now, see here, Mr.
Craik-- - Drake.
l don't know what you think you're talking about, but-- Oh.
Your name's Ken Lowry.
Supposedly you're manager of this mine, though it doesn't look like much of a mine anymore, does it? Police or just private? l'm trying to help a girl in the Corning Company who's having trouble.
To me you look like the guy responsible.
Oh, no, l'm not.
l work for a living, mister.
l just follow instructions.
Whose, Campbell's? l never met that bird.
Never met Amelia Corning, as a matter of fact.
She hired me like she hires everybody, from South America, but, look, that don't mean there's anything wrong with what l done.
Every month you've been sending in a payroll bill for almost _30,OOO.
Then the Corning Company sends you the money.
Who do you pay it to, gophers? You're not funny, mister.
Now, get om my back.
Not till you answer me.
Look, about a year and a half ago, just after Miss Corning hired me to run this place, the vein faulted.
l wrote Miss Corning.
She wrote back and said, ''We'll let the Los Angeles omice handle it.
'' Then a couple days later she telephoned long distance, said that due to tax reasons she just couldn't amord to close down the mine.
l'm supposed to make out a payroll every month, just as if we're in operation.
Then l cash the company check, take out my own pay and send the rest back.
ln cash, send it where? Corning Amiliated, subsidiary company, l guess.
They've got a post-omice box in L.
A.
And to date you foM/arded over _200 thousand in cash that way, right? l figured it was just a tax thing, some sort of a write-om, maybe.
For tax things that are too fancy, you get Alcatraz.
l know that, mister.
That's why l'm telling you all this.
What do you mean? How do you think l've been feeling? Look, a job's a job and all that, but when this bird tells me to keep my mouth shut.
What bird? Campbell, of course.
Calls not more than two hours ago and tells me not to answer any questions, don't-- don't tell anybody anything.
Now, look-- look, my friend.
Now l know something's wrong, and l aim to correct it.
l aim to tell plenty of people.
Yes? Excuse me, l thought this was Amelia Corning's suite.
lt is, but l haven't the slightest idea where she is.
l suppose she'll be back soon.
My name is Mason, Perry Mason.
This is important.
Would you mind if l come in to wait? Yes, l think l would.
l haven't had a chance to unpack yet, and-- lt's Mason, the attorney, Sophia.
Oh, the one with that girl at the omice who's been stealing things or whatever it is.
All right, make yourself comfortable while l wash the airplane om.
l'm Sophia Elliot, Amelia's poor relation.
You've just come from South America? The afternoon plane.
Miss Elliot lives with Amelia Corning down there.
Tries to keep up with her, you mean.
This is Gomez.
, Alfredo Gomez.
l met him on a boat once.
He plays marvelous shumleboard.
At your service, Mr.
Mason.
An honor.
l take it you've also come from South America.
South Pasadena.
Amelia didn't leave any note or anything, so you may have to stay here all evening.
How do you know about Susan Fisher? l beg your pardon? l gather you haven't talked to Miss Corning yet.
No, it was the maid who told me she'd gone out.
Then, may l ask, how do you know about Susan Fisher? Oh, Alfredo.
He knows everything that goes on in that omice.
Don't you, Alfredo.
l, too, work for the Corning Company, Mr.
Mason, an associate of the general manager, Endicott Campbell.
He's really the overseas shipping clerk, and l'm sure it's really Amelia that he'd like to meet someday, but in the meantime he's sweet, and he writes me letters.
[phone rings.]
Oh, if you don't mind, Alfredo.
That's probably the whirling wheelchair now.
Yes? Oh, yes, he is.
For you, Mr.
Mason.
Thank you.
Hello? Perry, l can't find Susan.
l know you told her to stay in her apartment, but she's not there.
l'm in a drugstore now, and they said that she was here.
She asked about the price of rental cars, cashed a check, and then ran out, and, Perry, they say she was wearing a man's hat.
[Mason.]
Susan.
Oh, am l glad to see you.
What on earth is that? Well, l really don't know.
Susan, Amelia Corning left just about the same time as you did.
ls there any connection? Well, she phoned me.
l guess this getup she told me to wear was so l wouldn't be recognized later on, but, well, she never showed up.
Never showed up? What are you talking about? She gave very careful instructions.
l was to go to a rental agency around the corner and rent a car and then l was to drive up Sky Mountain Road at-- that starts just om Sunset-- where her hotel is, you know-- l was to go to the last service station on the road and then 3#10ths of a mile past that-- Of all the crazy-- Go on, Susan.
l was to leave the car on a wide place there and walk back to the service station and get a can of gasoline.
What in heaven's name for? Well, she's a very old woman, and she sounded frightened.
She thought there might be some kind of an emergency because, you see, l was to drive her out to the desert, to Mojave.
And anyway, she wanted the car to be there for half an hour so that she could meet me whenever she was sure her taxi wasn't being followed.
Only, well, she never showed up.
How long did you wait? Until T:30.
Miss Corning said if she wasn't there by then, it was because she couldn't get away without attracting attention, so l should just skip it, so l threw away the gas can, and then l came home.
l've been around the corner for the past half hour.
l just had to have something to eat so that l could figure it out.
Susan, really, of all the gullible creatures.
For one thing, a woman from South America would scarcely know whereabouts of the service station on Sky Mountain Road.
Um, Mr.
Mason, l know how it all sounds, but she was so nice to me.
She said she wasn't going to prefer any charges and that she wouldn't blame me for those missing records because she knew who was responsible and l was the only one she trusted.
Susan, l want you to go inside.
l want you to lock your door.
Do you understand? l want you to go inside, stay there, and lock your door.
This must be the wide place.
Look.
- Don't touch it.
- Why not? What are you looking for? l smell gasoline fumes over this way.
lt's those missing company books.
Yes, l know.
[gasps.]
- He's dead.
- Who is it? l've never seen him before.
Mojave Monarch.
Lowry, Ken Lowry.
So you were just out riding on a pleasant evening, and just happened to stop, and just happened to notice a dead man.
Not far from the body, some books and paper soaked with gasoline, the killer maybe intended to burn.
Only you came along and-- Oh, this time it better be good this time, Perry.
l'll tell you all l can, Andy.
You bet you will.
Wait up on the road for me, will you, while the doctor finishes here? Mind if l wait back at the service station? l left Della there when we called you.
All right, but no further.
Who sold Susan the can of gasoline? The fellow over there.
He's the only one on duty.
Keep him busy while l make a call.
You don't mind if my little brother uses your phone, do you? No, no, that's okay.
Your what? Well, he's not really my brother, but l did practically raise him.
Why, he's old enough to be your old man.
You don't see very well, do you? Would you believe l'm 42? Well, it sure don't show.
Oh, thank you.
Say, tell me a little bit more about that woman that bought the can of gasoline.
Hello, Paul? Start making notes fast.
Here's what happened.
But if her hair wasn't blonde, what was it? Oh, it had some sort of touches of red, l guess, more like yours.
Oh, l don't have any red in my hair.
lt's brown.
Look at there.
But, of course, now, if you meant chestnut.
And you've got to find Amelia Corning.
lf she didn't show up out here and she hasn't returned to her hotel yet-- Right, Paul.
Yes, and the car Susan rented, l want you to locate that in a hurry.
[no audible dialogue.]
You're late.
Andy must have given you quite a third degree.
We had to go down to headquarters and make statements.
This the rental car? Yep.
l've already done what you asked, had a lab man go over it thoroughly-- fingerprints, bloodstains, the works.
Will he keep his mouth shut? Sure, but not forever.
lf the police get interested in your client, he's going to have to tell them what prints he found, and what if the police start looking for this car and check it themselves? All l want is time.
Until you find Amelia Corning, my client is way out on a limb.
Della, you and Paul take my car.
l'll meet in the morning.
What are you going to do? Maybe l can find a movie that's getting out just about now.
[Boy.]
Come on, fellows, let's go.
[Boy #2.]
Wait a minute, l want to finish my malt.
[Boy.]
Come on, fellows.
[tire hissing.]
[hissing stops.]
Well, of all the luck Hey, fellows.
Fellows, would you like to earn some money? [Boys.]
Yeah, sure.
l have an appointment in the ne_ block.
l'm late, have to have this tire fixed.
Here, would _20 take care of it? Twenty bucks, well.
Here's the keys to the trunk.
l want you to use the spare.
You better push it into the curb first.
l'll be back in a few minutes.
[all chattering.]
- Come on, push.
- Come on, turn that wheel.
[Boy #2.]
l'm turning, l'm turning.
Okay.
Let's go.
Morning, Della-- Come in.
Come in, Counselor.
l'm sorry to say that your lovely secretary has been detained again at headquarters.
Why? Last night we told Lieutenant Anderson everything we knew about finding that man's body.
Yes, but you forgot to mention certain matters concerning the Corning Company, and never once did you mention Susan Fisher.
She's a client.
That's privileged information.
You have no right to ask.
Now, take it easy, Perry.
Take it easy.
We are asking Miss Fisher a few questions, and we thought it might be a good idea to ask Della some of the same questions from a dimerent room.
That's all.
Tragg, this time you're going too far.
And this time you'd better be ready to defend yourself for concealing evidence.
We know all about that car Miss Fisher rented last night, the one observed at the scene of the crime, the one you had picked up later on.
All right, you've located the car.
You're waiting for them to bring it right up here into the omice? Nope.
l'm waiting for a phone call.
Perry, if we find that you wiped that car om, if you obliterated one single fingerprint of it, l'm warning you-- [phone rings.]
Oh, there.
Uh, may l? No.
Uh-- Hello? Hello-- Yes, speaking.
That's right.
Put him on.
Police laboratory? That's right.
Hello, Joe? You what? How many prints? Oh, that can't be.
Skip it.
Something wrong, Lieutenant? [slams down phone.]
He says an army must have played handball with that car.
We just threw out that evidence.
l came here to tell you that we're booking Susan Fisher for murder in the first degree, Counselor.
Yes, from my examination of the rock you hold there, l'd say there's no doubt that it's the instrument of murder.
There were not only bits of skin tissue adhering to it, but its conformation matches the depressed area in the skull, as well.
Doctor, could this blow, which killed Kenneth Lowry, have been delivered by a woman? [Doctor.]
Oh, yes.
Any woman of ordinary strength could have done it, yes, indeed.
Now, Mr.
Campbell, as l understand what you've said, the company of which you are general manager made regular remittances to the Mojave Monarch Mining Company for the purpose of undeM/riting its operation, payroll, and other expenses.
- Is that correct? - That's right.
Could you tell us, sir, how much money was sent to the mining company, that is, to Ken Lowry, in the last year? Yes, it was _20T, 563.
85.
And that figure would be reflected in the books of your company? Yes, but l wasn't personally familiar with the mining operation.
Miss Corning, the owner of all the companies, was in the habit of giving instructions over the long distance telephone from South America.
She got in touch separately with Mr.
Lowry and gave him special orders, told him how to handle everything out at Mojave.
At least that's the understanding l had.
Now, let's go back to the matter of the shoebox, which you learned about from the defendant on the telephone.
Did she make an estimate as to how many hundred-dollar bills were in the box before it ''disappeared''? Yes, she said she guessed it contained close to a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Did you have a conversation with the decedent on that weekend? Yes, l phoned Mr.
Lowry Sunday morning.
l told him there was something fishy going on in the omice and l'd appreciate it if he didn't discuss any company amairs with anyone.
ln her position as your secretary, would the defendant have known enough about the business for her to deal separately with Kenneth Lowry in some way? Why, of course she would.
She was practically my financial assistant.
She handled many of the subsidiary company records herself.
Thank you, Mr.
Campbell.
l think that'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Campbell, did Kenneth Lowry try to get in touch with you later that same day, the day he was killed? Yes, he did, as a matter of fact.
Miss Dow, my son's governess, said he called the house and would call back later but he never did.
That was about 5:OO, l think.
Now, concerning the shoebox full of money, You say you were unable to find such a box in the safe, where the defendant left it? That is right.
Was there anyone with you when you went looking for it? No.
Then it's only your word against the word of the defendant.
lsn't that right? So far, Mr.
Mason, it is my word against hers, and so far, at least, l am not accused of killing anyone to cover my defalcations.
So far.
Oh, Mr.
Campbell, would you by an chance happen to know of the present whereabouts of your employer, Miss Amelia Corning? l haven't the slightest idea.
Now, Miss Dow, you say that little Carlton Campbell was carrying a shoebox while you were driving the boy downtown to get a haircut? Yes, that's right.
Can you tell us, of your own knowledge, what was in that shoebox? Yes, l can.
How do you happen to know what was inside it? Well, after we were in the automobile, l took occasion to untie the box when Carlton wasn't looking.
l knew he'd taken the box from his father's closet, and l thought l should make sure what it was.
Well, naturally, in a way, l felt responsible.
And would you tell us, please, what you saw inside that shoebox? A pair of black patent-leather dress shoes belonging to Mr.
Campbell.
Thank you very much, Miss Dow.
Your witness.
You were driving the car at the time? l beg your pardon.
You were driving a car with an energetic small boy in the front seat and untying a box at the same time.
l did it just before we started the car.
You were able to untie and look into that box without the boy even noticing it? l tell you l looked, and l saw nothing but shoes.
Did you stop anywhere, leave the car at any time, leave the boy at any time? Absolutely no.
Well, not until he ran upstairs to Miss Fisher's omice, that is.
Before you left the house, then, was there someone else near the car? Well, no, other than the boy's own father when he told us good-bye.
Amelia didn't expect me to come up from South America, but l thought she might need looking after, so l sent her a cable, and l arrived about 4:30 in the afternoon.
l see.
Did you ever have any dealings with a man named Kenneth Lowry? l never heard of him until after he was dead.
Now, one final question.
Defense counsel has tried to make something of the fact that no one knows just where Amelia Corning is at the present time.
Does this concern you? Not particularly, not yet.
Amelia's a whirling dervish.
She's always om somewhere.
Well, it concerns me, naturally.
l seem to be the one employee of the Corning Company who's made an emort to keep in personal touch with the family in South America.
Now, about the decedent, Kenneth Lowry, did you have a conversation with him that same Sunday afternoon? l did.
He telephoned the hotel about 5:30.
Sophia, Miss Elliot, was dressing for dinner at the moment, so l answered the telephone.
[Burger.]
What did Mr.
Lowry say to you? He asked for Miss Corning, but, of course, she wasn't there.
He said he'd keep trying.
[Burger.]
Do you remember any specific words that Mr.
Lowry used in this conversation? Well, he sounded angry.
He said he didn't want to get blamed for things that weren't his fault.
He said if Miss Corning didn't straighten things out herself, then there'd be darn well plenty of trouble.
Those were his words, you understand.
[Burger.]
Thank you, Mr.
Gomez.
That'll be all.
Mr.
Gomez, do your various interests in the Corning Company include knowledge of the omice safe? l don't quite see what you're-- You know the combination of the omice safe? l most certainly do not.
Well, yes, l examined the rental car for bloodstains and fingerprints.
Mr.
Abert, you're a recognized expert in this field.
As a matter of fact, you sometimes work for the police department, but this examination you made at the request of a private party.
ls that correct? For Mr.
Paul Drake, a private investigator, although l understand him to be paid by Mr.
Perry Mason.
And what were your findings, Mr.
Abert? There were no bloodstains on the automobile, but there were identifiable prints.
l later turned these over to the police.
And were you able to recognize whose prints these were? Yes, we ran a comparison test at headquarters.
There were the defendant's.
Her prints were on the steering wheel, the dash, and one door handle.
And who else? What other prints were found in that car? Those of the deceased.
You found the fingerprints of Kenneth Lowry in the car that was rented to Susan Fisher and in which she was seen driving to the scene of the crime? That's right, sir, full palm, right thumb, three fingers of the left hand.
Thank you, Mr.
Abert.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Abert, who asked you to make this knowledge known to the proper authorities? You did, Mr.
Mason.
[Mason.]
No further questions.
Just a moment, Mr.
Abert.
Did Counsel ask you to make this disclosure before or after his client was arrested? After.
Thank you, Mr.
Abert.
That'll be all.
Your Honor, this time l call Carlota Aimes Jackson to the stand.
Well, late that afternoon, l was in the alley behind the Hotel Athenian.
See, l'm a maid there, and l was getting om from duty.
Would you please tell us what you saw in the alley? A lady in a wheelchair, an old lady.
She wore glasses, and there was another lady helping her into a car.
l didn't know it was a lady at first glance because, well, she was wearing a man's hat and a trench coat sort of thing.
Did you ever see this other lady again? Yes, in police headquarters, in the lineup.
[Burger.]
And who was this other lady that you saw in the hat and trench coat? Do you know? lt was her the defendant there.
[Burger.]
And the car that they were getting out of, did you ever see it again? Yes, sir, at police headquarters.
lt was the one they was getting the fingerprints out of.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Miss Jackson, you say you identified the defendant in the lineup.
Now, had you ever seen her before that? Well, n-- l had a glimpse of her once, maybe, when they were taking her up to the show-up room.
Had you ever seen a picture of her before that? Yes, the police showed me one once and asked me if that was the lady l saw.
How many conversations have you had with the police, Miss Jackson? Well, several, l think, maybe about-- As many as 10? Well, maybe.
So you weren't quite positive about what you had seen when you were first interviewed.
Well, l keep remembering details.
You know-- you know what l mean.
Then you weren't as positive in your ninth conversation as you are now.
Of course l was.
[Mason.]
Then why did you have the 10th conversation? [Carlota.]
l don't know.
Well, let's take the eighth conversation.
Are you more positive now than you were then? Well, l guess, maybe a little, but-- And what about the seventh conversation? More positive in the seventh conversation than you were in the si_h? - Well, maybe-- - More positive in the si_h than you were in the fifth? More positive in the fifth than you were in the fourth? More positive in the fourth than you were in the third? More positive in the third than you were in the second? More positive in the second than you were in the first? l think Perry made that testimony look silly.
And l think maybe his client's guilty.
Just suppose now-- Just suppose that Susan did lure Amelia Corning out someplace and disposed of her.
Heaven knows l can't find the old dame, and personally l think Burger is laying the groundwork in this hearing so later on he can try Susan for two murders, the old lady from whom she was embezzling and the guy that knew too much about it.
Paul, why can't you find the first woman who impersonated Amelia? Hired stooge? She could be in TimbuMu by now.
lt's the real one l bet turns up dead any minute.
Give me the rest of what you have there, would you, Paul? Well, l checked in Mojave for any phone calls made to Ken Lowry before he came to L.
A.
Any results? Yeah, to hang your client.
There was a message at his boardinghouse, for him to call operator 6T in Los Angeles.
Later on he must have done it.
That operator traced it for us.
The call was placed by a Miss Smith from a public phone booth, just around the corner from Susan Fisher's apartment.
Paul, what about the rental car? What about it? Well, you jotted down the mileage when you took the car out.
l noticed that between the mileage in the company books when Susan returned the car and your figure, there was nearly a 30-mile discrepancy.
Perry, l double-checked.
No one signed out for that car between the time Susan had it and the time l got it.
But if nobody else signed it out, then-- Wait a moment.
Another way, another angle.
Paul, l want you to move fast.
You'll have to go out to the car-rental agency, then right down to court.
Now, here's what l want you to find out.
May it please the Court, before we decide whether to omer any defense in this hearing, l would like to recall a prosecution witnesses.
Your Honor, l'll have to object to that.
This is a favorite trick of Counsel's.
We've already seen how far he's willing to go to delay the investigation of this case.
[Judge.]
l don't think that's called for, Mr.
Burger.
[Mason.]
My only desire is to clarify certain points in evidence, Your Honor.
[Burger.]
And which prosecution witness do you require to make this clarification, Mr.
Mason? Mr.
Endicott Campbell.
Very well.
Mr.
Campbell will return to the stand.
But l've explained about that box at least six times already.
You haven't yet explained how the box came to be in your son's possession.
Now, when you learned from the defendant the box contained money-- l learned nothing of the sort.
Susan told me it contained the money.
That's all.
Why do you think for a moment that l'd allow my son to play games with shoeboxes if l were hiding money in the house? Then why did you take your son out of town Saturday afternoon to stay with friends? l beg your pardon.
Take him where he wouldn't be available for questioning, as you weren't available, Mr.
Campbell, when my investigator went looking for you and your son the ne_ day.
My son is seven years old.
Can't you understand that when l realized there was obviously going to be trouble, that something had been going on in the firm that l didn't know anything about, my first thought was to get him away from all this upset? Haven't you the sense to realize-- [Judge taps pencil.]
The witness will refrain from personal remarks.
Counselor, l think the manner of your questioning-- Your Honor l'll have no more questions' of this witness.
lf l may be allowed a moment? Very well, Mr.
Mason.
Mr.
Campbell, you may step down.
Your Honor, l would like to request a two-hour recess.
Just a moment, Mr.
Mason.
You badgered this last witness for apparently no other purpose than to use up time.
For this court to tolerate any further delay-- Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
Your Honor, we now have evidence l would like to examine.
We will then omer that evidence in pleading a case for the defense.
All right, l see no real objection.
Court is recessed until 4:OO this afternoon.
Perry, will you, for Pete's sake, tell us why we're here and where we're going? Apartment 308.
Tragg, we figured the only person who could take a rental car out without a record of it would be an employee of the rental agency.
And this dame's a typist there, and we're right around the corner from Susan Fisher's apartment.
Miss Cindy Hastings? What do you want? - l'm very busy, and l-- - [whimpering.]
My little dog has been ill, and l-- Tragg, if you were to see Miss Hastings in a wheelchair, complete with gray wig and wearing glasses, [gasps.]
Break it in.
[whimpering.]
- Go on in, Sergeant.
- [whimper.]
Tragg, listen.
[woman crying and gasping.]
[Woman.]
Help.
Help me.
[moaning.]
Oh, help.
[groaning.]
[Tragg.]
Well, who in the name of-- [Mason.]
l'd say Amelia Corning, the first Miss Corning, the real Miss Corning.
They-- They kept giving me something.
l can't move.
[Tragg.]
You're all right, lady.
We'll take you to a hospital.
But who are they? [groans.]
Tragg, l think it's quite simple.
One of the witnesses on the stand lied, had to lie, l guess.
lf l just found that woman, she'll tell us.
[Miss Dow.]
Cindy? You shouldn't leave the door open like that.
Cindy.
l believe your accomplice ran out the back way, Miss Dow.
l've always been Amelia Corning.
l'm strictly an original, Mr.
Mason.
l'm glad you at least realized who the imposter was.
Well, l didn't really, not until the second Amelia Corning disappeared.
lt was right after that cable saying your relative, Sophia Elliot, would be arriving at any moment.
lt occurred to me that the cable would scare only an imposter into running.
lt was Elizabeth who set up the whole thing, like last year.
lt was Cindy who called Ken Lowry and gave him his instructions.
For a whole year he cashed checks and sent them to a post-omice box here in Los Angeles.
Miss Dow's mistake was to take that money and hide it in a shoebox.
Can you imagine her shock when she found out that little Carlton had gotten it mixed up with his father's treasure? l took that box out of the safe, dear when you were out of the omice for a moment.
lt's still in the hotel manager's safe, where l left it.
Which, of course, is why Miss Dow could never find it.
l imagine she had a couple of shocks that day.
First, she thought she had protected herself by kidnapping you from the railroad station before you could start om from Mojave, but then Ken Lowry called the Campbell home, and she realized he was going to talk so much that she and her friend Cindy would still be caught.
Everything they did, they did out of sheer desperation.
They arranged a meeting with Lowry, tried to buy him om, he wouldn't play, so they killed him.
And Mr.
Campbell, he had nothing to do with it.
He was really just a good, honest businessman.
Now, how could he be a good businessman? He didn't even believe his own secretary.
Hallelujah, dear.
We'll fire him.
Hallelujah.
Subtitled By J.
R.
Media Services, Inc.
Burbank, CA
Yay! The pirates are coming! The pirates are coming.
[typing.]
Yay, the pirates are coming.
Carlton Campbell, what on earth are you doing here? Shh, don't tell her.
Here.
What's this? Treasure.
[Woman.]
Carlton? Don't let the pirates get it.
They're after me.
[Woman.]
Carlton.
- Carlton-- - Hello, Miss Dow.
Oh, l might've known.
l bring him all the way downtown to have his hair trimmed by Mr.
Campbell's barber, and now l'm worn out before l've even got the boy tied in the chair.
l take it he got away from you.
Hm.
''Governess.
'' l ought to be called a goatherd.
What are you doing in the building on Saturday? About 10 thousand things.
Mr.
Campbell wants everything in order for Miss Corning when she gets here.
Oh, yes, the royal visit.
l suppose that's why he's playing golf today.
Well, Miss Corning's arriving from South America on Sunday, tomorrow, and there are all sorts of statements and reports on her holdings that l'm sure she'll want to inspect.
Why doesn't she keep her nose out of things? Mr.
Campbell has been handling her company pe_ectly well without her, hasn't he? Miss Dow, l'm terribly busy, but l think l just might know where to find Carlton.
Now, why don't you go on downstairs to the barber shop? l promise l'll send him along in the ne_ elevator.
Very well.
Manage things your own way.
All right, Carlton, come along now.
The coast is clear.
- [door closes.]
- l don't want a haircut.
Carlton, where on earth did you get this-- this treasure? Sure, we do it all the time.
l've got a box in my closet, and l gave him one to put in his closet.
l keep all sorts of valuable things.
But this particular box-- He doesn't mind.
You see, last night, l put my treasure in his room-- lt's safer there-- and this morning l decided to take his instead.
That's all.
Carlton, if your father doesn't know you have this, well, don't you think maybe l better keep it for a while? Why? l know.
Why don't we put it in the safe, and then nobody could touch it, not even pirates or anybody.
That's a wonde_ul idea.
Besides, you have to run along now.
l promised Miss Dow.
Well, if l can have it back whenever l want so Daddy won't get mad.
Of course you can.
There.
Now, scoot.
Press the button in the elevator marked ''one.
'' Miss Fisher, don't you like me anymore? Of course l do, darling.
l'm just upset today.
l still so much to do before Miss Corning comes, and l'm all alone-- There.
Hello, South Lake Country Club? l want to speak to Mr.
Endicott Campbell, please.
This is his private secretary speaking, and it's e_remely urgent.
But l just have to speak to him, - even if he's playing golf or-- or-- - [phone rings.]
Excuse me, would you hold on? Corning Company, mining and investments.
Well, l'm sorry, but we're closed on Saturday.
Oh, is that so? Well, this is Amelia Corning speaking, whoever you are.
What? Who? You heard me, young lady.
l'm Amelia Corning, and l'm sitting here in the Los Angeles Airport and-- Well, don't just splutter at me.
When l arrive anyplace, l expect to be greeted.
l expect to be met right now.
l tried to reach Mr.
Campbell.
l thought l knew where he was this morning, but the place l thought he'd gone couldn't seem to locate him-- Where was that, country club or race track? Well, of course not.
Mr.
Campbell isn't the sort of man-- Do you like Mr.
Campbell, or do you just think you ought be loyal to him? Well, l've really only worked for him about a year.
What l meant was-- You're a very poor liar, Suzanne.
Susan.
Susan Fisher.
That's it.
Speak louder.
Now, here.
You take care of all the baggage payments and get us a taxi.
My eyes aren't very good, but there are some _10 bills in there, and you'd better take several because first l want you to take me to the hotel to register and then-- But these are hundred-dollar bills.
That's right.
So they are.
The tens are on the other side.
There.
l think you and l are going to get on very well, Susan.
After we leave the hotel, you'll take me straight to the omice.
But on Saturday, with no one else around, l really don't know enough about the business to-- Well, l do, young lady, and l'll give the orders.
Why do you think l arrived here a day early? Hm? l'm afraid that's all l can find on the Oklahoma property, Miss Corning.
All right, now what about this Mojave Monarch? - Mojave? - What do you know about it? Well, it's a subsidiary company, gold mining.
They have just that one mine, l believe.
You're lying again.
No, l'm not.
But those books are all we have here, and the cancelled checks.
l'm sure any other records would be out in Mojave.
There's a man there named Ken Lowry there, l believe.
Hm.
lf you like, l can read you the figures we do have here-- l can read very well myself, thank you.
lt just takes a little time, that's all.
Well, what about this Smelting Company report? - Do you still want to see it? - Don't change the subject.
lf it makes you nervous to talk about the Mojave Monarch, then say so.
Miss Corning, please, if you'd just wait until Mr.
Campbell comes Will you stop dragging him in? He may be your immediate superior, Susan, but once and for all l am the Corning Comp'any.
Furthermore, l think these checks are phonies.
What? You heard me.
l'm going to take these records with me to the hotel, and l'm going to have a handwriting expert look at them.
l'll bet Endicott Campbell endorsed all these checks himself.
Oh, no.
No.
Why, that would be-- Forgery or embezzlement, of course.
Maybe both.
Now, l want you to put these books into the dispatch case there.
and find another so l can carry the rest.
Miss Corning, please, don't you think that-- What in heaven's name is that? Well? lt's-- It's mine.
Yours.
Don't tell me you keep shoes in the safe.
Unless, of course, it's the lunch you didn't eat today.
No, it's-- it's letters-- l mean, the only reason l put them in there was because you phoned, and then l hurried out-- Never mind, my dear.
It's all right.
But now, run into one of the other omices and find me another briefcase so we can put these things together.
l'm going to meet your boss for the first time at my hotel room tonight and l intend to be quite ready for him.
l don't blame you for being upset.
Poor dear, for one reason or another you really think the same thing l do, don't you? This Endicott Campbell l hired is nothing but a crook.
[phone rings.]
Hello? Oh, Mr.
Campbell, where have you been? l've left messages all over for you.
Well, Miss Corning's in town, and she wants to see you.
Miss Corning? What in the name of-- What did she say? What did she ask you? Why can't you tell me? Wait, Mr.
Campbell.
There's something else, something you have to know first.
Your son Carlton came by the omice this morning, with Miss Dow, and he had a shoebox of yours, and it was full of money.
Money? At-- At least what? Two-hundred th-- Susan, you're crazy.
Absolutely crazy.
He might have had my dress shoes, but-- Well, of course l don't believe you.
Now, stop all this lying nonsense.
But it's true.
The box is still down there in the omice safe.
Mr.
Campbell, l am not a liar.
Well, l think you are.
Of all the stupid, vicious tales, and to drag my son into it.
All right, Mr.
Campbell, if you won't even listen-- Well, l was only trying to protect you, and-- and goodbye.
You're positive the little boy didn't look into the box? l'm sure not, thank heaven.
Why ''thank heaven''? Even a seven-year-old witness would help.
l don't understand.
You didn't actually count the money, did you? Well, what if someone should accuse you of taking some of it, Susan? But it's Mr.
Campbell's money.
Carlton wasn't lying.
Well, why should anyone want to accuse me? To discredit you.
Susan, l gather you've been concerned with certain irregularities within the company.
lt's the Mojave Monarch, the mine that sends all the bills for us to pay.
Well, the record of income from it is supposed to be kept out there.
What's the matter? Isn't there a record? A couple of weeks ago, l learned something quite by accident.
l have a boyfriend who's a rock-hound, and we were out in the desert, and coming home, we saw this sign, an arrow that said ''Mojave Monarch.
'' Well, l thought it would be fun to go out there and see what the place looked like.
Well, there isn't anything there anymore.
lt's abandoned, deserted, for years.
What time did Miss Corning want to see your boss, this Mr.
Campbell? Della, you take care of locking up, will you? Right.
Come on, Miss Fisher.
l think we'd better attend that meeting.
We? l'm afraid you are going to need a lawyer.
[Campbell.]
Susan, what the devil are you doing here? Hello, Mr.
Campbell.
We're going up to see Miss Corning.
Oh, no, you are not.
You've made enough trouble already.
Mr.
Campbell, my name is Mason, Perry Mason.
l'm with Miss Fisher as her attorney Attorney? Of all the nerve.
And l suppose she's told you that cock-and-bull story about the money? lt's absolutely true.
And you've told him who your witnesses were, who saw you find it, put it in the safe? Susan, you've made up this whole thing to cover some of your peculations.
l don't know what they are yet, but before l fire you, young lady-- Now, just a moment, Campbell-- l'll have you know, Mason, that l've been to the omice, l've looked in the safe, and there's absolutely no such box there.
lt-- It's gone? Of course it's gone.
Mr.
Campbell, who were your witnesses? l beg your pardon.
Another thing for you to think about-- the Department of Internal Revenue takes a very dim view of people who keep such large amounts of money hidden.
Now, shall we go upstairs? Will you please tell Miss Corning that Endicott Campbell is here? ls that the lady in the wheelchair? That's right.
- She's not here anymore, sir.
- What? She's checked out.
l took her down in the elevator myself, about T:OO.
Oh, no.
Did she say where she was going? Search me.
One of the boys put her in a cab, though, with her baggage.
Was there a dispatch case? Did she take two very heavy briefcases? That's right, a whole batch of papers and books and things.
Took everything, l guess.
Morning, Paul.
Want the Sunday funnies? l am the funnies.
No luck? Well, we traced her as far as the railroad station.
Found a porter who remembered the wheelchair.
Miss Corning was interested in some records that were supposed to be up in Mojave.
Maybe she decided to go up there on the evening train.
No, Perry.
Amelia Corning bought no ticket and boarded no train.
She just went to the ladies' room and disappeared into thin air.
Well, what about her wheelchair and her luggage? Well, the wheelchair's still there, but not the luggage, not all those confidential company files your client handed her.
They disappeared with Amelia, Iock, stock, and barrel.
All right, Paul.
You'd better get out to the airport.
Why? The airport's where we started looking for old ladies in a hurry.
No, l don't mean Amelia Corning would leave from there.
l mean you've got to go out there and meet her when she comes in.
Perry, you were right.
She just came in on the plane.
l have one of my men talking to her right now.
No, no, he gave her a song and dance.
He even checked her passport.
lt's really Amelia Corning.
Thank you, young man, but l don't understand all this folderol.
Who sent you to meet me? Come, come, young man, speak up.
My name is Amelia Corning, and l expect answers.
l'll have you know l am the Corning Company.
Oh, you're back.
What happened? We saw Miss Corning.
She was really quite nice, not nearly so explosive as-- well, that woman who pretended to be her.
l guess the real Miss Corning doesn't have to put on any acts.
You mean you told her? Everything? l'm such a complete idiot.
Now, take it easy.
You're not in jail yet.
Oh, Perry.
Well, l ought to be.
Letting that creature come in and walk away with every important record the company has.
There's still the matter of that money in the shoebox, Susan.
Miss Corning's not going to take any action against you until she gets at the truth.
But how can she get at the truth now, Perry, without any record of the embezzlement or whatever's been going on at that company? Mr.
Campbell's at her hotel now, trying to explain.
And l'll bet he's telling her all sorts of lies, and l'll bet he put that other woman up to what she did, too.
and now he's going to frame poor Susan.
Now, you take it easy, too, Della.
Della, get Paul in here, would you, please? l want him to take a fast trip.
Trip? To Mojave.
Now, look, l got no time to talk to you, l tell you.
You've got time to stay out ofjail, haven't you? - Now, see here, Mr.
Craik-- - Drake.
l don't know what you think you're talking about, but-- Oh.
Your name's Ken Lowry.
Supposedly you're manager of this mine, though it doesn't look like much of a mine anymore, does it? Police or just private? l'm trying to help a girl in the Corning Company who's having trouble.
To me you look like the guy responsible.
Oh, no, l'm not.
l work for a living, mister.
l just follow instructions.
Whose, Campbell's? l never met that bird.
Never met Amelia Corning, as a matter of fact.
She hired me like she hires everybody, from South America, but, look, that don't mean there's anything wrong with what l done.
Every month you've been sending in a payroll bill for almost _30,OOO.
Then the Corning Company sends you the money.
Who do you pay it to, gophers? You're not funny, mister.
Now, get om my back.
Not till you answer me.
Look, about a year and a half ago, just after Miss Corning hired me to run this place, the vein faulted.
l wrote Miss Corning.
She wrote back and said, ''We'll let the Los Angeles omice handle it.
'' Then a couple days later she telephoned long distance, said that due to tax reasons she just couldn't amord to close down the mine.
l'm supposed to make out a payroll every month, just as if we're in operation.
Then l cash the company check, take out my own pay and send the rest back.
ln cash, send it where? Corning Amiliated, subsidiary company, l guess.
They've got a post-omice box in L.
A.
And to date you foM/arded over _200 thousand in cash that way, right? l figured it was just a tax thing, some sort of a write-om, maybe.
For tax things that are too fancy, you get Alcatraz.
l know that, mister.
That's why l'm telling you all this.
What do you mean? How do you think l've been feeling? Look, a job's a job and all that, but when this bird tells me to keep my mouth shut.
What bird? Campbell, of course.
Calls not more than two hours ago and tells me not to answer any questions, don't-- don't tell anybody anything.
Now, look-- look, my friend.
Now l know something's wrong, and l aim to correct it.
l aim to tell plenty of people.
Yes? Excuse me, l thought this was Amelia Corning's suite.
lt is, but l haven't the slightest idea where she is.
l suppose she'll be back soon.
My name is Mason, Perry Mason.
This is important.
Would you mind if l come in to wait? Yes, l think l would.
l haven't had a chance to unpack yet, and-- lt's Mason, the attorney, Sophia.
Oh, the one with that girl at the omice who's been stealing things or whatever it is.
All right, make yourself comfortable while l wash the airplane om.
l'm Sophia Elliot, Amelia's poor relation.
You've just come from South America? The afternoon plane.
Miss Elliot lives with Amelia Corning down there.
Tries to keep up with her, you mean.
This is Gomez.
, Alfredo Gomez.
l met him on a boat once.
He plays marvelous shumleboard.
At your service, Mr.
Mason.
An honor.
l take it you've also come from South America.
South Pasadena.
Amelia didn't leave any note or anything, so you may have to stay here all evening.
How do you know about Susan Fisher? l beg your pardon? l gather you haven't talked to Miss Corning yet.
No, it was the maid who told me she'd gone out.
Then, may l ask, how do you know about Susan Fisher? Oh, Alfredo.
He knows everything that goes on in that omice.
Don't you, Alfredo.
l, too, work for the Corning Company, Mr.
Mason, an associate of the general manager, Endicott Campbell.
He's really the overseas shipping clerk, and l'm sure it's really Amelia that he'd like to meet someday, but in the meantime he's sweet, and he writes me letters.
[phone rings.]
Oh, if you don't mind, Alfredo.
That's probably the whirling wheelchair now.
Yes? Oh, yes, he is.
For you, Mr.
Mason.
Thank you.
Hello? Perry, l can't find Susan.
l know you told her to stay in her apartment, but she's not there.
l'm in a drugstore now, and they said that she was here.
She asked about the price of rental cars, cashed a check, and then ran out, and, Perry, they say she was wearing a man's hat.
[Mason.]
Susan.
Oh, am l glad to see you.
What on earth is that? Well, l really don't know.
Susan, Amelia Corning left just about the same time as you did.
ls there any connection? Well, she phoned me.
l guess this getup she told me to wear was so l wouldn't be recognized later on, but, well, she never showed up.
Never showed up? What are you talking about? She gave very careful instructions.
l was to go to a rental agency around the corner and rent a car and then l was to drive up Sky Mountain Road at-- that starts just om Sunset-- where her hotel is, you know-- l was to go to the last service station on the road and then 3#10ths of a mile past that-- Of all the crazy-- Go on, Susan.
l was to leave the car on a wide place there and walk back to the service station and get a can of gasoline.
What in heaven's name for? Well, she's a very old woman, and she sounded frightened.
She thought there might be some kind of an emergency because, you see, l was to drive her out to the desert, to Mojave.
And anyway, she wanted the car to be there for half an hour so that she could meet me whenever she was sure her taxi wasn't being followed.
Only, well, she never showed up.
How long did you wait? Until T:30.
Miss Corning said if she wasn't there by then, it was because she couldn't get away without attracting attention, so l should just skip it, so l threw away the gas can, and then l came home.
l've been around the corner for the past half hour.
l just had to have something to eat so that l could figure it out.
Susan, really, of all the gullible creatures.
For one thing, a woman from South America would scarcely know whereabouts of the service station on Sky Mountain Road.
Um, Mr.
Mason, l know how it all sounds, but she was so nice to me.
She said she wasn't going to prefer any charges and that she wouldn't blame me for those missing records because she knew who was responsible and l was the only one she trusted.
Susan, l want you to go inside.
l want you to lock your door.
Do you understand? l want you to go inside, stay there, and lock your door.
This must be the wide place.
Look.
- Don't touch it.
- Why not? What are you looking for? l smell gasoline fumes over this way.
lt's those missing company books.
Yes, l know.
[gasps.]
- He's dead.
- Who is it? l've never seen him before.
Mojave Monarch.
Lowry, Ken Lowry.
So you were just out riding on a pleasant evening, and just happened to stop, and just happened to notice a dead man.
Not far from the body, some books and paper soaked with gasoline, the killer maybe intended to burn.
Only you came along and-- Oh, this time it better be good this time, Perry.
l'll tell you all l can, Andy.
You bet you will.
Wait up on the road for me, will you, while the doctor finishes here? Mind if l wait back at the service station? l left Della there when we called you.
All right, but no further.
Who sold Susan the can of gasoline? The fellow over there.
He's the only one on duty.
Keep him busy while l make a call.
You don't mind if my little brother uses your phone, do you? No, no, that's okay.
Your what? Well, he's not really my brother, but l did practically raise him.
Why, he's old enough to be your old man.
You don't see very well, do you? Would you believe l'm 42? Well, it sure don't show.
Oh, thank you.
Say, tell me a little bit more about that woman that bought the can of gasoline.
Hello, Paul? Start making notes fast.
Here's what happened.
But if her hair wasn't blonde, what was it? Oh, it had some sort of touches of red, l guess, more like yours.
Oh, l don't have any red in my hair.
lt's brown.
Look at there.
But, of course, now, if you meant chestnut.
And you've got to find Amelia Corning.
lf she didn't show up out here and she hasn't returned to her hotel yet-- Right, Paul.
Yes, and the car Susan rented, l want you to locate that in a hurry.
[no audible dialogue.]
You're late.
Andy must have given you quite a third degree.
We had to go down to headquarters and make statements.
This the rental car? Yep.
l've already done what you asked, had a lab man go over it thoroughly-- fingerprints, bloodstains, the works.
Will he keep his mouth shut? Sure, but not forever.
lf the police get interested in your client, he's going to have to tell them what prints he found, and what if the police start looking for this car and check it themselves? All l want is time.
Until you find Amelia Corning, my client is way out on a limb.
Della, you and Paul take my car.
l'll meet in the morning.
What are you going to do? Maybe l can find a movie that's getting out just about now.
[Boy.]
Come on, fellows, let's go.
[Boy #2.]
Wait a minute, l want to finish my malt.
[Boy.]
Come on, fellows.
[tire hissing.]
[hissing stops.]
Well, of all the luck Hey, fellows.
Fellows, would you like to earn some money? [Boys.]
Yeah, sure.
l have an appointment in the ne_ block.
l'm late, have to have this tire fixed.
Here, would _20 take care of it? Twenty bucks, well.
Here's the keys to the trunk.
l want you to use the spare.
You better push it into the curb first.
l'll be back in a few minutes.
[all chattering.]
- Come on, push.
- Come on, turn that wheel.
[Boy #2.]
l'm turning, l'm turning.
Okay.
Let's go.
Morning, Della-- Come in.
Come in, Counselor.
l'm sorry to say that your lovely secretary has been detained again at headquarters.
Why? Last night we told Lieutenant Anderson everything we knew about finding that man's body.
Yes, but you forgot to mention certain matters concerning the Corning Company, and never once did you mention Susan Fisher.
She's a client.
That's privileged information.
You have no right to ask.
Now, take it easy, Perry.
Take it easy.
We are asking Miss Fisher a few questions, and we thought it might be a good idea to ask Della some of the same questions from a dimerent room.
That's all.
Tragg, this time you're going too far.
And this time you'd better be ready to defend yourself for concealing evidence.
We know all about that car Miss Fisher rented last night, the one observed at the scene of the crime, the one you had picked up later on.
All right, you've located the car.
You're waiting for them to bring it right up here into the omice? Nope.
l'm waiting for a phone call.
Perry, if we find that you wiped that car om, if you obliterated one single fingerprint of it, l'm warning you-- [phone rings.]
Oh, there.
Uh, may l? No.
Uh-- Hello? Hello-- Yes, speaking.
That's right.
Put him on.
Police laboratory? That's right.
Hello, Joe? You what? How many prints? Oh, that can't be.
Skip it.
Something wrong, Lieutenant? [slams down phone.]
He says an army must have played handball with that car.
We just threw out that evidence.
l came here to tell you that we're booking Susan Fisher for murder in the first degree, Counselor.
Yes, from my examination of the rock you hold there, l'd say there's no doubt that it's the instrument of murder.
There were not only bits of skin tissue adhering to it, but its conformation matches the depressed area in the skull, as well.
Doctor, could this blow, which killed Kenneth Lowry, have been delivered by a woman? [Doctor.]
Oh, yes.
Any woman of ordinary strength could have done it, yes, indeed.
Now, Mr.
Campbell, as l understand what you've said, the company of which you are general manager made regular remittances to the Mojave Monarch Mining Company for the purpose of undeM/riting its operation, payroll, and other expenses.
- Is that correct? - That's right.
Could you tell us, sir, how much money was sent to the mining company, that is, to Ken Lowry, in the last year? Yes, it was _20T, 563.
85.
And that figure would be reflected in the books of your company? Yes, but l wasn't personally familiar with the mining operation.
Miss Corning, the owner of all the companies, was in the habit of giving instructions over the long distance telephone from South America.
She got in touch separately with Mr.
Lowry and gave him special orders, told him how to handle everything out at Mojave.
At least that's the understanding l had.
Now, let's go back to the matter of the shoebox, which you learned about from the defendant on the telephone.
Did she make an estimate as to how many hundred-dollar bills were in the box before it ''disappeared''? Yes, she said she guessed it contained close to a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Did you have a conversation with the decedent on that weekend? Yes, l phoned Mr.
Lowry Sunday morning.
l told him there was something fishy going on in the omice and l'd appreciate it if he didn't discuss any company amairs with anyone.
ln her position as your secretary, would the defendant have known enough about the business for her to deal separately with Kenneth Lowry in some way? Why, of course she would.
She was practically my financial assistant.
She handled many of the subsidiary company records herself.
Thank you, Mr.
Campbell.
l think that'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Campbell, did Kenneth Lowry try to get in touch with you later that same day, the day he was killed? Yes, he did, as a matter of fact.
Miss Dow, my son's governess, said he called the house and would call back later but he never did.
That was about 5:OO, l think.
Now, concerning the shoebox full of money, You say you were unable to find such a box in the safe, where the defendant left it? That is right.
Was there anyone with you when you went looking for it? No.
Then it's only your word against the word of the defendant.
lsn't that right? So far, Mr.
Mason, it is my word against hers, and so far, at least, l am not accused of killing anyone to cover my defalcations.
So far.
Oh, Mr.
Campbell, would you by an chance happen to know of the present whereabouts of your employer, Miss Amelia Corning? l haven't the slightest idea.
Now, Miss Dow, you say that little Carlton Campbell was carrying a shoebox while you were driving the boy downtown to get a haircut? Yes, that's right.
Can you tell us, of your own knowledge, what was in that shoebox? Yes, l can.
How do you happen to know what was inside it? Well, after we were in the automobile, l took occasion to untie the box when Carlton wasn't looking.
l knew he'd taken the box from his father's closet, and l thought l should make sure what it was.
Well, naturally, in a way, l felt responsible.
And would you tell us, please, what you saw inside that shoebox? A pair of black patent-leather dress shoes belonging to Mr.
Campbell.
Thank you very much, Miss Dow.
Your witness.
You were driving the car at the time? l beg your pardon.
You were driving a car with an energetic small boy in the front seat and untying a box at the same time.
l did it just before we started the car.
You were able to untie and look into that box without the boy even noticing it? l tell you l looked, and l saw nothing but shoes.
Did you stop anywhere, leave the car at any time, leave the boy at any time? Absolutely no.
Well, not until he ran upstairs to Miss Fisher's omice, that is.
Before you left the house, then, was there someone else near the car? Well, no, other than the boy's own father when he told us good-bye.
Amelia didn't expect me to come up from South America, but l thought she might need looking after, so l sent her a cable, and l arrived about 4:30 in the afternoon.
l see.
Did you ever have any dealings with a man named Kenneth Lowry? l never heard of him until after he was dead.
Now, one final question.
Defense counsel has tried to make something of the fact that no one knows just where Amelia Corning is at the present time.
Does this concern you? Not particularly, not yet.
Amelia's a whirling dervish.
She's always om somewhere.
Well, it concerns me, naturally.
l seem to be the one employee of the Corning Company who's made an emort to keep in personal touch with the family in South America.
Now, about the decedent, Kenneth Lowry, did you have a conversation with him that same Sunday afternoon? l did.
He telephoned the hotel about 5:30.
Sophia, Miss Elliot, was dressing for dinner at the moment, so l answered the telephone.
[Burger.]
What did Mr.
Lowry say to you? He asked for Miss Corning, but, of course, she wasn't there.
He said he'd keep trying.
[Burger.]
Do you remember any specific words that Mr.
Lowry used in this conversation? Well, he sounded angry.
He said he didn't want to get blamed for things that weren't his fault.
He said if Miss Corning didn't straighten things out herself, then there'd be darn well plenty of trouble.
Those were his words, you understand.
[Burger.]
Thank you, Mr.
Gomez.
That'll be all.
Mr.
Gomez, do your various interests in the Corning Company include knowledge of the omice safe? l don't quite see what you're-- You know the combination of the omice safe? l most certainly do not.
Well, yes, l examined the rental car for bloodstains and fingerprints.
Mr.
Abert, you're a recognized expert in this field.
As a matter of fact, you sometimes work for the police department, but this examination you made at the request of a private party.
ls that correct? For Mr.
Paul Drake, a private investigator, although l understand him to be paid by Mr.
Perry Mason.
And what were your findings, Mr.
Abert? There were no bloodstains on the automobile, but there were identifiable prints.
l later turned these over to the police.
And were you able to recognize whose prints these were? Yes, we ran a comparison test at headquarters.
There were the defendant's.
Her prints were on the steering wheel, the dash, and one door handle.
And who else? What other prints were found in that car? Those of the deceased.
You found the fingerprints of Kenneth Lowry in the car that was rented to Susan Fisher and in which she was seen driving to the scene of the crime? That's right, sir, full palm, right thumb, three fingers of the left hand.
Thank you, Mr.
Abert.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
Mr.
Abert, who asked you to make this knowledge known to the proper authorities? You did, Mr.
Mason.
[Mason.]
No further questions.
Just a moment, Mr.
Abert.
Did Counsel ask you to make this disclosure before or after his client was arrested? After.
Thank you, Mr.
Abert.
That'll be all.
Your Honor, this time l call Carlota Aimes Jackson to the stand.
Well, late that afternoon, l was in the alley behind the Hotel Athenian.
See, l'm a maid there, and l was getting om from duty.
Would you please tell us what you saw in the alley? A lady in a wheelchair, an old lady.
She wore glasses, and there was another lady helping her into a car.
l didn't know it was a lady at first glance because, well, she was wearing a man's hat and a trench coat sort of thing.
Did you ever see this other lady again? Yes, in police headquarters, in the lineup.
[Burger.]
And who was this other lady that you saw in the hat and trench coat? Do you know? lt was her the defendant there.
[Burger.]
And the car that they were getting out of, did you ever see it again? Yes, sir, at police headquarters.
lt was the one they was getting the fingerprints out of.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Miss Jackson, you say you identified the defendant in the lineup.
Now, had you ever seen her before that? Well, n-- l had a glimpse of her once, maybe, when they were taking her up to the show-up room.
Had you ever seen a picture of her before that? Yes, the police showed me one once and asked me if that was the lady l saw.
How many conversations have you had with the police, Miss Jackson? Well, several, l think, maybe about-- As many as 10? Well, maybe.
So you weren't quite positive about what you had seen when you were first interviewed.
Well, l keep remembering details.
You know-- you know what l mean.
Then you weren't as positive in your ninth conversation as you are now.
Of course l was.
[Mason.]
Then why did you have the 10th conversation? [Carlota.]
l don't know.
Well, let's take the eighth conversation.
Are you more positive now than you were then? Well, l guess, maybe a little, but-- And what about the seventh conversation? More positive in the seventh conversation than you were in the si_h? - Well, maybe-- - More positive in the si_h than you were in the fifth? More positive in the fifth than you were in the fourth? More positive in the fourth than you were in the third? More positive in the third than you were in the second? More positive in the second than you were in the first? l think Perry made that testimony look silly.
And l think maybe his client's guilty.
Just suppose now-- Just suppose that Susan did lure Amelia Corning out someplace and disposed of her.
Heaven knows l can't find the old dame, and personally l think Burger is laying the groundwork in this hearing so later on he can try Susan for two murders, the old lady from whom she was embezzling and the guy that knew too much about it.
Paul, why can't you find the first woman who impersonated Amelia? Hired stooge? She could be in TimbuMu by now.
lt's the real one l bet turns up dead any minute.
Give me the rest of what you have there, would you, Paul? Well, l checked in Mojave for any phone calls made to Ken Lowry before he came to L.
A.
Any results? Yeah, to hang your client.
There was a message at his boardinghouse, for him to call operator 6T in Los Angeles.
Later on he must have done it.
That operator traced it for us.
The call was placed by a Miss Smith from a public phone booth, just around the corner from Susan Fisher's apartment.
Paul, what about the rental car? What about it? Well, you jotted down the mileage when you took the car out.
l noticed that between the mileage in the company books when Susan returned the car and your figure, there was nearly a 30-mile discrepancy.
Perry, l double-checked.
No one signed out for that car between the time Susan had it and the time l got it.
But if nobody else signed it out, then-- Wait a moment.
Another way, another angle.
Paul, l want you to move fast.
You'll have to go out to the car-rental agency, then right down to court.
Now, here's what l want you to find out.
May it please the Court, before we decide whether to omer any defense in this hearing, l would like to recall a prosecution witnesses.
Your Honor, l'll have to object to that.
This is a favorite trick of Counsel's.
We've already seen how far he's willing to go to delay the investigation of this case.
[Judge.]
l don't think that's called for, Mr.
Burger.
[Mason.]
My only desire is to clarify certain points in evidence, Your Honor.
[Burger.]
And which prosecution witness do you require to make this clarification, Mr.
Mason? Mr.
Endicott Campbell.
Very well.
Mr.
Campbell will return to the stand.
But l've explained about that box at least six times already.
You haven't yet explained how the box came to be in your son's possession.
Now, when you learned from the defendant the box contained money-- l learned nothing of the sort.
Susan told me it contained the money.
That's all.
Why do you think for a moment that l'd allow my son to play games with shoeboxes if l were hiding money in the house? Then why did you take your son out of town Saturday afternoon to stay with friends? l beg your pardon.
Take him where he wouldn't be available for questioning, as you weren't available, Mr.
Campbell, when my investigator went looking for you and your son the ne_ day.
My son is seven years old.
Can't you understand that when l realized there was obviously going to be trouble, that something had been going on in the firm that l didn't know anything about, my first thought was to get him away from all this upset? Haven't you the sense to realize-- [Judge taps pencil.]
The witness will refrain from personal remarks.
Counselor, l think the manner of your questioning-- Your Honor l'll have no more questions' of this witness.
lf l may be allowed a moment? Very well, Mr.
Mason.
Mr.
Campbell, you may step down.
Your Honor, l would like to request a two-hour recess.
Just a moment, Mr.
Mason.
You badgered this last witness for apparently no other purpose than to use up time.
For this court to tolerate any further delay-- Just a moment, Mr.
Burger.
Your Honor, we now have evidence l would like to examine.
We will then omer that evidence in pleading a case for the defense.
All right, l see no real objection.
Court is recessed until 4:OO this afternoon.
Perry, will you, for Pete's sake, tell us why we're here and where we're going? Apartment 308.
Tragg, we figured the only person who could take a rental car out without a record of it would be an employee of the rental agency.
And this dame's a typist there, and we're right around the corner from Susan Fisher's apartment.
Miss Cindy Hastings? What do you want? - l'm very busy, and l-- - [whimpering.]
My little dog has been ill, and l-- Tragg, if you were to see Miss Hastings in a wheelchair, complete with gray wig and wearing glasses, [gasps.]
Break it in.
[whimpering.]
- Go on in, Sergeant.
- [whimper.]
Tragg, listen.
[woman crying and gasping.]
[Woman.]
Help.
Help me.
[moaning.]
Oh, help.
[groaning.]
[Tragg.]
Well, who in the name of-- [Mason.]
l'd say Amelia Corning, the first Miss Corning, the real Miss Corning.
They-- They kept giving me something.
l can't move.
[Tragg.]
You're all right, lady.
We'll take you to a hospital.
But who are they? [groans.]
Tragg, l think it's quite simple.
One of the witnesses on the stand lied, had to lie, l guess.
lf l just found that woman, she'll tell us.
[Miss Dow.]
Cindy? You shouldn't leave the door open like that.
Cindy.
l believe your accomplice ran out the back way, Miss Dow.
l've always been Amelia Corning.
l'm strictly an original, Mr.
Mason.
l'm glad you at least realized who the imposter was.
Well, l didn't really, not until the second Amelia Corning disappeared.
lt was right after that cable saying your relative, Sophia Elliot, would be arriving at any moment.
lt occurred to me that the cable would scare only an imposter into running.
lt was Elizabeth who set up the whole thing, like last year.
lt was Cindy who called Ken Lowry and gave him his instructions.
For a whole year he cashed checks and sent them to a post-omice box here in Los Angeles.
Miss Dow's mistake was to take that money and hide it in a shoebox.
Can you imagine her shock when she found out that little Carlton had gotten it mixed up with his father's treasure? l took that box out of the safe, dear when you were out of the omice for a moment.
lt's still in the hotel manager's safe, where l left it.
Which, of course, is why Miss Dow could never find it.
l imagine she had a couple of shocks that day.
First, she thought she had protected herself by kidnapping you from the railroad station before you could start om from Mojave, but then Ken Lowry called the Campbell home, and she realized he was going to talk so much that she and her friend Cindy would still be caught.
Everything they did, they did out of sheer desperation.
They arranged a meeting with Lowry, tried to buy him om, he wouldn't play, so they killed him.
And Mr.
Campbell, he had nothing to do with it.
He was really just a good, honest businessman.
Now, how could he be a good businessman? He didn't even believe his own secretary.
Hallelujah, dear.
We'll fire him.
Hallelujah.
Subtitled By J.
R.
Media Services, Inc.
Burbank, CA