Maverick (1957) s01e17 Episode Script
Rope of Cards
1
Five pat hands in these 25 cards?
No. No, I don't.
I'll bet another 500,
and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.
Oh, wait a second, Maverick.
You're a gambler and can risk your cash,
but you can't put up a man's life against--
Look, hold on. Wait a minute. Wait.
This is between Maverick and me.
He named it.
What do you mean, Gregg's life?
[GUNSHOTS]
BILL:
Hold it there! Drop that gun!
I ought to kill you now,
holding that gun on us.
- I wouldn't have gunned you.
- Sure not.
Bill, take a look in the house.
How'd you get in here?
- Well, I came--
BILL: Sloan's dead.
- Well, yeah. He tried to kill me.
LEM: Tie him up real good.
You don't got to tie me.
Just take me to the sheriff.
We will, after we tie you up.
One beer.
Looks like your luck has changed.
- Mr. Maverick.
- Yes, sheriff?
I wonder if you'd mind
walking over to the jail with me.
- What's the charge?
- Murder.
Well, you didn't do it.
Young fella over there is in trouble.
Seems to think
you can help him out of it.
Well, I don't know.
I'm in a bit of trouble here myself.
Yours can keep. His can't.
- What's his name?
- Bill Gregg.
Keep the pot boiling, boys. I'll be back.
You remember.
I was sitting on the porch today
when you rode past my place
heading toward town. I waved to you.
Bill's trying to prove somebody else rode
out to his place just after you went by.
If so, you would've passed him
on the road.
I don't remember passing anybody.
Well, you got to remember.
John Sloan came out to my place tonight.
He must've passed you.
Don't tell him what to say
or how to say it, Billy.
Well, you remember seeing Sloan?
I didn't see anybody. I'm sorry.
Bill says Sloan was out there.
Now, maybe he was.
- I don't know.
- He was, I tell you.
He invited me out to his place tonight.
He was gonna lend me some money.
You remember that.
I asked him for it yesterday at the saloon.
Well, what say, Mr. Maverick?
I remember Sloan said no.
Well, he changed his mind.
He came out to my place today to say so.
Said to drop over about nightfall
and he'd give me the cash.
It don't make sense.
You didn't come through the main gate.
That's the only entrance,
unless you jumped the wire or cut it.
It was cut. Sloan cut it himself.
Don't know why he'd do that.
Sloan posted us at the gate
to keep people out.
He always have guards?
Always when he had a big piece
of cash around.
Tonight he had it from a cattle sale.
Over $6000.
You say you heard two shots?
That's right.
Oh, sure. Sloan shot at me first.
Well, Billy, looks like you're gonna
have to spend sometime here with me.
Have to ask you
to empty your pockets now.
He gave me that.
When Billy tried to borrow that money
from Sloan
how much did he ask for?
Three thousand dollars.
He must've changed his mind plenty.
There's over 6000 here.
When?
Looks like he figured to use a gun
to get what he couldn't get by working.
- All he'll get is a piece of rope.
- I'll check to the one-card draw.
Well, I just wanna see what's fair,
one way or another.
So do we all.
Don't talk no more about it
till a jury's picked.
- What?
- Because some of you might be on it.
I'm here to gather up enough men
to pick a panel.
Can't it wait for this, sheriff?
Well
finish the hand, but make it quick.
I'll bet 200.
MAN: Ton rich for me.
- Beats me.
Scares me.
All right, we got to hurry.
You four are just the number
we need to choose from.
Oh, but, sheriff, you don't want me.
I've known Gregg since he was that high.
Been doing business with him all the time.
HAMELIN: We all have.
MAN: Me too.
Nearly everybody in town has had business
with Billy from one time or another.
Come on, let's go.
You too, Mr. Maverick.
No, thanks.
I'm not a resident of this town.
You've been in town three or four weeks.
- I remember when you first came--
- We know.
You're a resident, all right.
You'll make a fine juror.
That's what this town needs, fine jurors.
- If it wasn't--
- I don't have a permanent home here.
You can stay at my home
while you're on the jury.
- I've got a spare room, and I--
SHERIFF: Charlie.
I have no interests in this town.
No business, no nothing.
- What are you doing in town?
- Playing cards.
- How do you make a living?
- Playing cards.
Then you got a business.
[MEN LAUGHING]
Let's go.
Mr. Maverick.
You keep it. You've been a big help.
[CHATTERING]
Is that the best story you got to tell?
- Yes.
- It don't ring true.
You wanna make any changes,
got anything to tell me
this is the last chance to do it.
No.
No, no, there's nothing.
Billy didn't murder John Sloan, Jabe.
I believe him.
Shouldn't you believe him too?
I should.
Yes, I should.
Morning, Mr. Blaine, sir.
Hello, Jabe.
Been along time, hasn't it?
Not near long enough.
Oh, come, now. Just because we're
on opposite sides here
-is no reason we can't be friendly.
- I got reason enough without that.
Oh, don't be a fool, Jabe.
We've butted heads before,
but that's all in the past.
I never saw a bobcat go to eating grass.
We've both had a few years
to forget our differences.
- We're older now.
- The older 3 rattlesnake gets
the more poison he's got in him.
I'm warning you, Jabe.
Don't make this a grudge fight.
- Warning me?
- Yes.
I asked to be appointed to this case.
It won't do me any harm when I win it
and it won't do my enemies any good.
Well, I asked for this case too.
Not just because
I think so much of Billy Gregg
but because I think so little of you.
Oh, you're a bitter man, Jabe.
Because a younger man could
shake himself loose from this cow town
-make something better for himself.
- Yeah.
Better for himself,
but not better for the people.
You don't give two hoots for them.
You never have.
But you could end up being the governor
if somebody don't get in your way.
You think you can stop me?
I can stop you from using Billy Gregg
as a stepping-stone.
Not with the case you've got, Jabe.
Maybe not,
but you'll know you've been in a fight.
[DOOR OPENS]
BRET: I figured I'd have
no trouble at all staying off the jury.
After all, 1 was practically a witness.
But 1 found out that argument
applied to almost everybody.
Mr. Caldwell, you're the owner
of the Roan Horse Saloon?
Yes, sir.
I'm the owner and the day barkeep.
I've been around this town
ever since it started.
I can remember
when we didn't have more--
Yes, yes.
Now, you were present when the accused
entered your establishment
and approached the late John Sloan?
Yes, that's right.
It was Saturday afternoon.
And the customers sure had me hopping.
When Billy Gregg walked in,
I was the first one to notice him.
MAN:
All yours.
Mr. Sloan,
can I speak to you for a minute?
Go ahead.
Alone.
Haven't got time. I'm busy.
We can wait the game for you.
Anything you got to say, say.
I need a loan.
- Oh? How much?
- Three thousand dollars.
- That's a lot of money.
- Yes.
What does a boy like you
want with all that money?
I wanna build a new place,
get some furniture, other things.
Maybe a couple of heifers
to bulk out my herd some.
Why so fancy?
What's the matter with the cabin you got?
Oh, it's all right for me, but
I'll give you 10 percent on the money.
That's more than the bank gives.
Don't you wanna tell me
what you need a new house for?
Well, Lucy Sutter and me
are planning to be married.
I want better for her than what I got.
Why don't you mortgage your house
and your beef? Deal them, Logan.
I tried the bank and every other place
I could think of after that.
So I'm the last chance, huh?
- Last one you can turn to?
BILLY: Yeah, that's right.
Must stick in your crew
to have to come to me.
A man don't like to ask money
from anyone.
- Yeah, least of all me.
- If you say so.
Come on, play. Keep it going.
Mr. Sloan, will you lend it to me?
I don't think so.
Your pa couldn't do anything
with that scrubland
and I don't think you will either.
The house and the herd's worth
all of 3000.
Nobody else seems to think so.
Neither do I.
- I haven't got the cash anyway.
- You got over 6000 from that cattle sale.
Look, I don't wanna lend.
Now stop begging.
I shouldn't have to, Sloan.
When you was getting started,
my father lent you $3000.
You never paid it back.
You owe me 3000.
And I didn't pay that debt
for a good reason.
Besides, it's run over so long
a period of time, it's outlawed.
- It's uncollectible bylaw.
- That's bank law.
There's other law
that should hold a man.
I paid your pa more than 3000 help
over the years.
I got reason to think he took more
when I wasn't looking.
Get up. Get up!
I wouldn't want you to kill him.
He's winning a lot of my money.
This is on the house, boys.
On the house.
And the bays calmed down,
the poker game started again.
And I didn't have to buy a new mirror.
The last time--
That's all.
- Thank you, Mr. Caldwell.
- Thank you.
Your witness.
Uh, uh
Well, I
I just wanna hear
that one part over again.
About what Sloan said to Billy
just before Billy went for his gun.
Said Billy's pa took him for better
than $3000 while his back was turned.
No. You mean he just as good
as called this boy's father a thief?
He couldn't have said it no plainer.
I'd like to point out
that insults aren't shooting licenses.
Seems you don't need no license
to go shooting off your mouth.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
So we tied Gregg up
and took him to the sheriff.
After that,
we went back and rode the fence.
Barbed wire had been clipped
on one of the back sections.
JABE:
Well
Well, now, Lem, when you stopped
Billy Gregg, how did he look?
I mean, did he look wild and mean?
Or did he look mostly scared?
BLAINE:
Object.
- Defense is trying to lead the witness--
- That ain't the point.
But I wish that someone
would set me straight on one thing.
Why would a man who was supposed
to have planned a robbery
and then killed someone
because of it
take care to come in by the back door
when he arrived
and then run out the from door
when he left?
Desperate, guilty men do things like that.
So do scared, innocent ones.
That's all, Lem.
When you jailed Bill Gregg that night,
had he been drinking?
There was liquor on his breath.
BLAINE: You went to Sloan's place
and you found him dead.
Did your examination go further
than the house?
I went to look over the cut fence.
Lem showed it to me.
That's where I found the clippers
that did the job.
Thank you. Your witness.
There's something the prosecutor said
that interested me.
Trying to prove that Billy has got just about
every vice that a young fella could have
he dragged in that business
about liquor on his breath.
Sounds like he's trying to say
Billy was drunk.
- Well, he wasn't, Jabe.
- He wasn't, huh?
[CHUCKLES]
Well, I'm sure he couldn't be all the things
that Mr. Blaine says he is.
First he says he's drunk,
then he says he's sober enough
tn put a bullet right in the middle
of a man's heart.
I don't know, but looks to me
like the prosecutor don't know
just what he's trying to prove.
CY:
Them's the ones I sold to Billy Gregg.
About three months back.
Bill has always been short on money
and that pair has got a busted spring,
so I sold it to him for half-price.
I enter this into evidence.
Any questions?
JABE:
Yes. Let me see that thing.
Now, Cy, do you mean to tell me
that you remember this pair of clippers
nut of all the clippers you sold
through the years?
CY: That's what I said, Jabe.
JABE: And I know you mean it, Cy.
You've always had sharp eyes
and a good memory.
And you're right as rain, Cy,
these are Billy's clippers.
He told me so himself.
And don't nobody forget that.
You'll find out why later on.
All right, Cy.
Well, now, doc,
would you say that Billy was the sort
to have a mean streak?
Objection, Your Honor.
I've stand by while counsel
repeatedly used the name "Billy"
tn describe the defendant.
An obvious attempt
to make a grown man appear
to be a mischievous lad of 8.
Now I simply must object.
The good doctor isn't qualified
to judge mean streaks.
Though I imagine he has removed
many a bullet from men
who were shot by models of virtue.
[LAUGHING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
JUDGE:
All right, hold it down.
Any other questions, Jabe?
No.
You're excused, doc.
BLAINE:
The prosecution rests.
JABE: Mr. Blaine seems to think
this is all a big joke.
That a boy fighting for his life
is a pretty funny animal.
He wants to save time
wants to speed up the case.
All right.
He'll speed up the case
to send a boy to his death.
Well, I'll speed it up to send Billy Gregg
out of this court a free man.
Call for my first witness,
William Gregg.
[MURMURING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Yes, sir.
Now, Billy--
Oh, I'm sorry. I meant "Mr. Gregg."
Now, Mr. Gregg,
tell us exactly what happened.
In your own words.
Well, what happened that afternoon
in the Roan Horse Saloon
is pretty much the way it was said.
I was pretty riled, all right
but going home and thinking of it,
I was glad Mr. Maverick spoke up
and kept me from drawing my gun.
Well, the next afternoon,
1 was sitting on the porch trying to think.
Worry my way out of things.
[HORSE SNORTS]
No need for that, Bill.
I didn't come for trouble.
Don't drop your gun, then. Come ahead.
I came over to talk to you
about the money you asked for.
I asked, you said no.
Well, I thought a lot about it since.
You think about
your calling my pa a thief?
That ton.
Maybe that most of all.
Like you said, your pa did give me
some help when I first got started.
But your coming up to me like that
in the saloon, and brazenly
well, it sort of rubs a man the wrong way
to have folks think that he needed help.
No shame in needing help.
Everybody does one time or other.
Yeah, but it's like I said
I did pay off your pa little by little
over a period of time.
We never got around to writing
any new notes or picking up the old one.
All happened so gradual.
Then your pa died,
and you ended up with the old note.
- You could've said that yesterday.
- That's just the point.
If I'd said it then, it would've looked like
I was trying to squirm out of something.
Naturally, I said something I didn't mean,
something that wasn't true.
I know your pa would never steal.
- You tell that to the men at the saloon.
- No, wait a minute, Billy.
I came over here
to offer you something worth more
than just apologizing.
I wanna make up for what I said.
Well, don't you understand?
I wanna loan you the money.
And what will you take for it?
No mortgage, no interest, no nothing.
Pay me when you can.
You don't want anything?
Sure, I do. I don't want you
telling anybody where you got it.
Folks will get the idea I'm going soft.
It'll be five times as hard to do business.
And 50 times as hard
to keep my head up.
You got a big pride, Sloan.
Well, if I was a kid your age,
just starting allover again
maybe I wouldn't need it.
Now it's about all I have.
Seems I never really did know
your good, Mr. Sloan.
You and a lot of other people.
You mind riding aver tonight? I always
pasta couple men at the from gate
when I got a chunk of cash around.
You can go through your north field
and through the fence the back way.
I'll clip it on the way home.
Like you say.
You swear you won't tell nobody
about this, Billy?
- Nobody at all?
- Don't worry about it.
So a couple hours later
I rode over to Sloan's place
through the back acres.
The barbed wire was cut,
like he said it would be
and I went on through.
Now, Mr. Gregg,
you've told this story twice.
You still say the wire was already cut,
Sloan didn't ask you to cut it.
He'd done it himself
when he rode back home.
He took my clippers
and left them to be found.
I move that last be stricken
from the record.
Strike it out. Disregard that last remark.
BLAINE:
No one saw you on the trip?
No.
There were two cowboys at the gate.
I could make them out a little.
But I tied my horse back of the house,
and they didn't see me.
Then you took special pains not to be seen.
You were willing to let Sloan's accusation
against your father go unanswered
if he lent you the money.
My pa is dead.
A little name-calling
can't hurt him too much.
But I got my own name to make.
My own life.
And that money could help me do it.
BLAINE: So a combination of pride,
which every man has
and a will to make a name
brought you unseen to the back door
of John Sloan's ranch after dark.
You're twisting it all out of shape.
He's making it sound
like I went out to dry-gulch Sloan.
I never. You're saying I didn't care enough
about my pa to stand up for his name.
I simply stated the facts
in your own words.
Object.
To what, Jabe?
The prosecutor's last remark
or to your client's outburst?
To the deliberate baiting of my client.
Attack the evidence if you will,
but don't attack the boy.
Now, you just sit down, Billy.
Take it easy.
Everybody knows how much you loved
and respected your pa.
I object, Your Honor
tn counsel's instructing the witness
while under examination.
Sustained. Jabe, don't do any more
of that kind of thing.
Yes, Your Honor.
BLAINE:
So you entered the house. Then what?
I told you.
Tell the jury again.
BILLY:
Well, I tapped on the door.
Sloan was sitting behind his desk.
Oh, good evening, Billy.
- Mr. Sloan.
- Come on in.
- How are you?
- Fine, thank you.
- Let's have a drink, huh?
- Yeah. Thanks very much.
Sit down.
Have a little celebration.
There you are.
To you and Lucy Sutter.
Makes me real glad
that I'm able to help you two kids.
Go on, drink up.
Pour yourself another one.
All right.
Watch this, Billy.
Here's the new house
and the new furniture.
The beginning of a good life
for you and Lucy.
Seven, eight, nine.
Does me good to see the sparkle
in your eyes.
Thirteen, 14, 15.
What are you seeing, Billy?
What you said.
Most of all, Lucy's face.
- Twenty-one, two, three, four--
- Twenty-five.
That's all right.
Go right ahead, count along.
- Twenty-eight, 29, 30.
- Thirty, huh?
Thirty 100-dollar bills.
Oh, you're not gonna count them again,
are you?
For fun? Or don't you trust me yet?
- Thanks, Mr. Sloan.
- I'm glad to do it.
Careful on your way out.
Hold it right there, Gregg.
Now, don't turn around.
Put your hands on the door frame.
- What's this all about?
- Surprised?
BILLY:
Not very.
But I don't figure you'll gun me down
in cold blond.
You'll hang for it.
What, for killing a holdup man?
Ha, ha, ha.
Who's gonna believe that I lent you
that money after what I said about your pa?
No.
But a hotheaded youngster,
lifting a few drinks
deciding to take what I wouldn't
give him, folks would believe that.
- You went to a lot of trouble.
- No trouble.
Just cut a few strands of wire
and posted two witnesses out from.
But why?
You really think you're good enough
for Lucy Sutter?
You.
A fool kid with nothing but a dirty shack
and a few scrubby acres of land.
Well, you're not good enough!
Lucy's gonna marry me.
So that's it. You think, if you kill me,
Lucy will have anything to do with you?
That's why I didn't go after you
in the saloon, boy.
You think Lucy will mourn a thief
for very long?
You're gonna die a thief.
Ugh!
BILLY:
I headed for the door and out.
Those two fellas came up
and took me into town.
- That's all.
- Those are the facts?
Just like it happened.
I never knew Sloan felt that way
about Lucy.
BLAINE:
No, I suppose not.
I wonder if Sloan ever knew it.
- What do you mean by that?
- Oh, we'll get to that later.
Now tell me this.
The day before you went to Sloan's
to get the loan
you had bad words with him
at the Roan Horse Saloon, is that correct?
I said it was.
Yet the very next day
when Sloan came to you
and offered the money,
you had no suspicions?
At first.
What he said seemed to make sense.
A man noted for hard dealing
who came to you
and practically begged your help
in not revealing a kind heart
and you believed him?
Yes.
Yet you weren't surprised, you say,
when Sloan pulled a gun on you.
No. I always thought he was a snake,
and he proved it.
But you say you believed his story.
Well, he oiled me up
and got me out there.
Sloan asked you to sneak in
through a place he cut
in his own barbed wire
and you didn't suspect a thing.
Just went right ahead, innocent as a lamb.
Yes.
[MURMURING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Your friends and neighbors
seem to find that
as unbelievable as I do, Mr. Gregg.
That's enough, Mr. Blaine.
Don't draw the spectators
into your prosecution.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Anyway, you believed him?
- Yes.
BLAINE: Why?
I needed the money, and I guess I was
ready to be convinced of anything to get it.
And if you were ready
to be convinced of anything
you were ready to convince yourself
that any means were fair.
That you were justified in stealing
what you believed to be yours
-because of the outlawed note?
- No. I wouldn't have gone outside the law.
You were heard to say
that there were other laws besides
book law that should govern a man.
- I didn't mean it that way.
- You decided to enforce the law
and tank not only the 3000
but the rest of the money as well.
- I didn't take anything.
- There were over $6000 on you
when the sheriff had you empty
your pockets. That's true, isn't it?
- Sheriff said so, yes.
- How did it get there?
I don't know.
[CROWD MURMURING]
Now, Miss Sutter
you're one of the few schoolteachers
this town has had.
If that weren't interesting enough,
you're a lovely girl.
Isn't it true that some of our citizens
have satisfied their curiosity
and interest in you
by stopping by the schoolhouse?
Yes.
And Mr. Sloan met you in town sometimes
and held you in conversation.
You've had conversation
with many of our male citizens.
- Yes.
- The judge, for instance.
Jabe over there.
Mr. Hamelin. Jasper.
Would you say that all of them
were in love with you?
Even Jasper?
[LAUGHING]
Of course not.
Did John Sloan ever propose marriage?
No.
Well, did he ever profess a love for you?
Well, not in so many words.
Then how do you know he loved you?
A woman can tell about such things,
Mr. Blaine.
Hm.
Step down.
[CROWD MURMURING]
Your Honor, my summation will be brief.
I won't dwell on the unshakable facts
that have been offered in proof
of Bill Gregg's guilt.
These facts are condemning enough.
But there's something
even more condemning.
The defense.
A fairy tale.
Without basis in anything
except in the mind of the defense attorney.
We find ourselves still without a motive
for the involved scheme
which the late John Sloan is supposed
to have created.
The defense went to the extent of placing
the beautiful Lucy Sutter on the stand
tn lie for the man
she was about to marry.
Now, I honor her noble lie.
She loves Bill Gregg deeply.
But the love she says
John Sloan held for her
is without proof of any kind.
No one else in this community
knew of it.
Not the citizens of this town.
Not Bill Gregg himself.
Not even Lucy Sutter.
But the motive for Bill Gregg is evident.
Clear.
A long-standing hate
for a debt he thought had gone unpaid
a desire to make a home
for the wife-tn-be
and an insult against
his father's name.
I won't ask for a verdict of guilty.
There can be no other.
[MURMURING]
Pass your ballots down
as soon as you've voted.
"Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
- Not guilty."
- What?
Oh, that's right. "Not guilty."
"Guilty. Guilty."
One "not guilty."
Is somebody trying to make a joke
out of this?
You sound as if a man doesn't have a right
to his own vote.
- It was you?
- That's right.
You've got no right to hold things up.
You don't even belong in this town.
We're gonna have another vote right now,
and this time we do it right.
Now, hold on, Pike.
Let him have his say.
Must have reasons.
The man don't do things without reasons.
First, I'd like to suggest
a little bet to Mr. Pike.
- A bet?
- We haven't got time for that.
Well, business is where you find it.
We'll all be old men before I change
my vote and let Bill Gregg hang.
And we'll all belong in our graves
before I let a man guilty as sin go free.
Which brings us to that little bet.
I have $500 here
that says we leave this room
with a verdict for acquittal.
Five.
It's a fool thing, offering a bet like that.
There's 11 of us here
already said he's guilty.
I've played poker with you, Mr. Pike.
You like to get your man out on a limb
if you hold four aces.
Well, you're holding them.
You've heard the bet. Am I called?
You can hold the stakes.
Um Now, wait a minute.
Let's name it again.
You say that the verdict will be unanimous
for innocent, and that includes my vote?
Done.
You notice how Mr. Pike put his finger
right on the point
that made the odds so bad against me.
Pike himself must vote for acquittal.
- Go ahead, Maverick. What about reasons?
- Yes. What do you mean?
That afternoon
in the Roan Horse Saloon
you remember that Sloan called
Gregg's father a thief?
That's right.
I wonder why Sloan
should practically force Gregg
into drawing a gun on him.
The boy was pushing him.
Hard enough
that a simple "no" wouldn't do?
- Sloan didn't have to yell "thief."
- I think the man's got a point.
Gregg told a story so unbelievable
that even he couldn't give a reason for it.
But that argument in the saloon
was set up by Sloan.
He asked for it.
- That part fits Gregg's story.
PIKE: "Story."
What else could he say?
That's the best he could do.
And Blaine tied him up in it.
Why, he looked guilty enough
for hanging right then.
Oh, well,
you can't judge by a man's looks, Pike.
When he stumbles over his own story,
you can.
I doubt that.
Doubt. That's all I have to go on,
is doubt.
And how many of you men
would let Bill Gregg hang
if there was any doubt at all?
Any reasonable doubt.
All right, bays,
pass them down as soon as you voted.
JUROR:
Here we are.
"Guilty.
Guilty.
Not guilty."
Mine is still here.
Looks like I'm not alone anymore.
PRICE:
"Guilty. Guilty.
Not guilty. Not guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
- Guilty." And mine.
- And mine.
Eight to four.
You let fancy talk switch you over?
It's none of your business
how I vote on a secret ballot.
Call for a poll and I'll say I vote guilty,
same as I wrote.
And I say it's none of your business, Pike.
But I vote not guilty.
Mr. Maverick said reasonable doubt.
Well, I've got one.
Everybody knows
Sloan was a hard man
and not the straightest
when he figured to lose.
You ought to know that, Pike.
You and him had trouble
when he cheated at cards.
That was between him and me.
I knew it and he knew
he couldn't get away with it.
But a man who will cheat once
will cheat twice.
Maybe. But Sloan would stink at murder.
I know that, and so does everybody else.
And from what I've heard
there's even less chance
that Bill Gregg would kill.
So it's just a difference of opinion,
Mr. Pike.
And there's a point there, Pike.
Get this, then. My opinion won't change.
Maverick can tell
all the bedtime stories he wants
but facts are facts
and as long as I got a vote,
Bill Gregg don't go free.
- Do you understand me?
- I'll vote as I see it.
You know something, Pike?
Here we are, all listening to reason,
or trying to
and you're just digging in your heels
to make a stand no matter what.
Maverick is talking about reasons.
I'm talking about fact.
What can he do with this fact?
Gregg says Sloan gave him $3000.
The sheriff found over 6.
All the cash that Sloan had.
What does that look like to you?
I'll admit that part bothered me too.
It's a pretty strong point.
Hey, you're doing a lot of talking,
but you got no answers.
BRET: Just as Sloan had to set the scene,
so have I.
How many of you would believe
a man wouldn't know how much money
was handed to him?
You, Mr. Hamelin?
Hamelin always counts things
three or four times.
Business. Gotta watch yourself.
A man wouldn't be shortchanged.
No sensible man.
Right. Anyone's careful
about being shortchanged.
About getting less than what is due him.
But is anyone too careful
about getting more?
Are you trying to tell me that Bill Gregg
stand there and didn't know
Sloan was giving him more than twice
as much as he was supposed to?
- You said it for me.
- I don't believe it.
Oh, it's not a hard trick
to fuel a man with.
Not if a man is 3 mm.
We made a bet. Five hundred each.
Stakes are being held in your pocket.
Take it out and count it.
Everyone saw the stakes put up.
Pike himself watched me count it out.
Should be $1000 there.
It's 1500.
[ALL LAUGHING]
“Ii a man is 3 Mai.“
That's what Pike said.
- Yeah, well
- It ain't the same thing at all.
It's exactly the same thing,
and you know it.
- Any verdict?
- Not yet.
Better get a decision, or you'll all be
putting up at the hotel tonight.
The sheriff's right. Let's take another vote.
If it'll do us any good.
JUROR: That's all right.
- First, may I have my extra 500 back?
[ALL LAUGHING]
"Not guilty. Not guilty."
- Eleven to one.
- For acquittal.
And that means it's still a hung jury
because my vote stays the same.
- What have you got to say about that?
- I'm about talked nut.
Oh, you're weakening, huh?
- No. It isn't a case of that, Pike.
JUROR 2: Do you realize what time it is?
- We're all getting" We're all--
JUROR 2: We wanna get out of it.
JUROR 3: Oh, come on.
JUROR 4: Let's get it done.
Go ahead, take another vote.
I say guilty, guilty, guilty.
HAMELIN:
First you say Maverick's making a joke
and new you stand fast.
There's a reasonable doubt.
Anybody can see that.
Mr. Pike has a right to his own opinion,
just like the rest of us do.
We're deadlocked. Your opinion is fixed.
Why do you still vote for hanging?
I've said it all along. Bill Gregg is guilty.
- That's your opinion?
- Naturally.
You're a poker player, Mr. Pike.
You're a pretty good one,
even though you only bet on sure things.
But haven't there been times
when the sure thing didn't pay off?
When your opinion was wrong?
Isn't there just the least chance
that Bill Gregg is innocent?
Not a chance.
Let me ask you something
about the odds of poker.
What are the odds against
drawing a pat hand?
I don't know. Plenty. Maybe 10-, 2040-1.
Let's say 10-tn-1,
just for the sake of argument.
After one pat hand
what would the odds be
against drawing another pat hand?
Same deal?
Hundred-inane maybe. Why?
- Ten times as much?
- Yeah.
And a third pat hand would be 1000-10-1,
and a fourth, 10,000
and a fifth pat hand, would 100,000-10-1
be a fair idea of the odds?
Well, a few thousand,
the odds doesn't matter.
I just wanna agree on something.
I can say, then,
that the odds against five pat hands
25 consecutive cards
from a full regular deck
shuffled, no tricks involved
are, say, 100,000-10-1?
Yeah. Yeah, I'd agree to that much.
Would you say those odds are about
the ones against Bill's story being true?
I'd say that too.
Now, what are you trying to say?
That your opinion, your judgment,
can be wrong.
That you, like anybody else,
can make a mistake.
I'm so sure of it that I'm willing
to stake Bill Gregg's life on it.
I'll take the long end of the bet.
I ain't quite sure what you mean.
Take the deck nut, spread it on the table.
Look them over. Everybody, if you want to.
I won't touch it.
Make sure it's a 52-card deck.
It's a straight deck.
BRET:
Shuffle them.
Shuffle them good.
Now cut them.
Again and again.
Are you satisfied
that they're well-shuffled and cut?
Yeah.
Now deal off the first 25 cards,
face down.
Now stack the 25
and keep your hand on it, Pike.
Set the rest of the deck aside.
Now let's make our bet.
I say that in those 25 cards
that you dealt
from a pack
that you shuffled and cut
there are five pat hands,
not in regular order, you understand
but the five pat hands are there.
Do you believe that?
Five pat hands in these 25 cards?
No. No, I don't.
I'll bet another 500,
and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.
Oh, wait a second, Maverick.
You're a gambler and can risk your cash
but you can't put up
a man's life against--
Look, hold on. Wait a minute.
This is between Maverick and me.
He named it.
What do you mean, Gregg's life?
If I win, you vote to free him.
- And if you lose?
- If I lose, I'll stop fighting you.
I can't expect the others
to vote his life away.
This jury might still be deadlocked,
but the next one will hang him sure.
There's a joker here somewhere.
You're trying to trick me
into voting your way.
- Don't you trust your opinion?
PIKE: You're a professional.
I haven't handled the deck.
The best manipulator in the world
can't control a deck he hasn't touched.
HAMELIN:
What's the matter, Pike?
Odds ain't good enough?
You can win another 500.
I'm still figuring.
You're gonna make five pat hands
out of these 25 cards?
That's straights, flushes, full houses?
That's right.
Can I shuffle them again?
BRET: It's an honest deck, Mr. Pike.
You looked at them before.
Thank you, Mr. Pike.
Now, I'll try to put them in suits,
see how many flushes we can make.
If we're lucky, we'll get three.
They seem to be running pretty good.
Looks like a straight flush.
Well, Mr. Pike, we did.
We got We got three flushes.
PRICE:
Looks like four flushes there, Bret.
BRET:
You're right, we have.
One, two, three and four.
I think, possibly
The king of hearts and a nine.
We got four flushes and a straight,
Mr. Pike.
Five pat hands.
A diamond flush, spade flush
club flush, heart flush,
and a king-high straight.
PIKE: Well, that's
HAMELIN: Five pat hands.
PRICE:
I never saw anything like that.
Maverick, how many times
can five pat hands be made
nut of any 25 cards?
Practically every time.
I call it Maverick solitaire.
Call the sheriff.
Tell him we got a verdict.
[EXCITED CHATTERING]
BAILIFF:
Here comes the jury, folks.
For a while there,
I thought we never would reach a verdict.
Well, hanging the jury
would've been better than hanging Billy.
Come to think of it,
we never did take a final poll.
Did Pike ever say "not guilty"?
Well, not in so many words,
but we made a bargain.
Sure,
but Pike never really changed his vote.
Maybe he's 511“ sure at you
{or having made 3 {em out oi him.
We'd better ask him now.
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Gentlemen of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?
Well, Mr. Price?
You do have a verdict, don't you?
Well, yes, we do.
I think.
You think?
Well, do you have a verdict
or don't you?
Yes, Your Honor, we have.
JUDGE:
Well, what is that verdict?
- We find for not guilty.
- This is ridiculous.
The jury obviously is not in agreement.
I demand a polling of the jury.
The jury will stand to be pulled.
How do you say?
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
JUROR 2:
Not guilty.
HAMELIN:
Not guilty.
JUROR 3:
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
JUROR 4:
Not guilty.
[COURTROOM CHEERING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
This case dismissed.
Well, you made me look pretty foolish.
I'm sorry, Pike.
I was just betting
that you were a pretty good man.
And a fair one.
How about a little poker?
I can get back to business now.
[English - us - SDH]
Five pat hands in these 25 cards?
No. No, I don't.
I'll bet another 500,
and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.
Oh, wait a second, Maverick.
You're a gambler and can risk your cash,
but you can't put up a man's life against--
Look, hold on. Wait a minute. Wait.
This is between Maverick and me.
He named it.
What do you mean, Gregg's life?
[GUNSHOTS]
BILL:
Hold it there! Drop that gun!
I ought to kill you now,
holding that gun on us.
- I wouldn't have gunned you.
- Sure not.
Bill, take a look in the house.
How'd you get in here?
- Well, I came--
BILL: Sloan's dead.
- Well, yeah. He tried to kill me.
LEM: Tie him up real good.
You don't got to tie me.
Just take me to the sheriff.
We will, after we tie you up.
One beer.
Looks like your luck has changed.
- Mr. Maverick.
- Yes, sheriff?
I wonder if you'd mind
walking over to the jail with me.
- What's the charge?
- Murder.
Well, you didn't do it.
Young fella over there is in trouble.
Seems to think
you can help him out of it.
Well, I don't know.
I'm in a bit of trouble here myself.
Yours can keep. His can't.
- What's his name?
- Bill Gregg.
Keep the pot boiling, boys. I'll be back.
You remember.
I was sitting on the porch today
when you rode past my place
heading toward town. I waved to you.
Bill's trying to prove somebody else rode
out to his place just after you went by.
If so, you would've passed him
on the road.
I don't remember passing anybody.
Well, you got to remember.
John Sloan came out to my place tonight.
He must've passed you.
Don't tell him what to say
or how to say it, Billy.
Well, you remember seeing Sloan?
I didn't see anybody. I'm sorry.
Bill says Sloan was out there.
Now, maybe he was.
- I don't know.
- He was, I tell you.
He invited me out to his place tonight.
He was gonna lend me some money.
You remember that.
I asked him for it yesterday at the saloon.
Well, what say, Mr. Maverick?
I remember Sloan said no.
Well, he changed his mind.
He came out to my place today to say so.
Said to drop over about nightfall
and he'd give me the cash.
It don't make sense.
You didn't come through the main gate.
That's the only entrance,
unless you jumped the wire or cut it.
It was cut. Sloan cut it himself.
Don't know why he'd do that.
Sloan posted us at the gate
to keep people out.
He always have guards?
Always when he had a big piece
of cash around.
Tonight he had it from a cattle sale.
Over $6000.
You say you heard two shots?
That's right.
Oh, sure. Sloan shot at me first.
Well, Billy, looks like you're gonna
have to spend sometime here with me.
Have to ask you
to empty your pockets now.
He gave me that.
When Billy tried to borrow that money
from Sloan
how much did he ask for?
Three thousand dollars.
He must've changed his mind plenty.
There's over 6000 here.
When?
Looks like he figured to use a gun
to get what he couldn't get by working.
- All he'll get is a piece of rope.
- I'll check to the one-card draw.
Well, I just wanna see what's fair,
one way or another.
So do we all.
Don't talk no more about it
till a jury's picked.
- What?
- Because some of you might be on it.
I'm here to gather up enough men
to pick a panel.
Can't it wait for this, sheriff?
Well
finish the hand, but make it quick.
I'll bet 200.
MAN: Ton rich for me.
- Beats me.
Scares me.
All right, we got to hurry.
You four are just the number
we need to choose from.
Oh, but, sheriff, you don't want me.
I've known Gregg since he was that high.
Been doing business with him all the time.
HAMELIN: We all have.
MAN: Me too.
Nearly everybody in town has had business
with Billy from one time or another.
Come on, let's go.
You too, Mr. Maverick.
No, thanks.
I'm not a resident of this town.
You've been in town three or four weeks.
- I remember when you first came--
- We know.
You're a resident, all right.
You'll make a fine juror.
That's what this town needs, fine jurors.
- If it wasn't--
- I don't have a permanent home here.
You can stay at my home
while you're on the jury.
- I've got a spare room, and I--
SHERIFF: Charlie.
I have no interests in this town.
No business, no nothing.
- What are you doing in town?
- Playing cards.
- How do you make a living?
- Playing cards.
Then you got a business.
[MEN LAUGHING]
Let's go.
Mr. Maverick.
You keep it. You've been a big help.
[CHATTERING]
Is that the best story you got to tell?
- Yes.
- It don't ring true.
You wanna make any changes,
got anything to tell me
this is the last chance to do it.
No.
No, no, there's nothing.
Billy didn't murder John Sloan, Jabe.
I believe him.
Shouldn't you believe him too?
I should.
Yes, I should.
Morning, Mr. Blaine, sir.
Hello, Jabe.
Been along time, hasn't it?
Not near long enough.
Oh, come, now. Just because we're
on opposite sides here
-is no reason we can't be friendly.
- I got reason enough without that.
Oh, don't be a fool, Jabe.
We've butted heads before,
but that's all in the past.
I never saw a bobcat go to eating grass.
We've both had a few years
to forget our differences.
- We're older now.
- The older 3 rattlesnake gets
the more poison he's got in him.
I'm warning you, Jabe.
Don't make this a grudge fight.
- Warning me?
- Yes.
I asked to be appointed to this case.
It won't do me any harm when I win it
and it won't do my enemies any good.
Well, I asked for this case too.
Not just because
I think so much of Billy Gregg
but because I think so little of you.
Oh, you're a bitter man, Jabe.
Because a younger man could
shake himself loose from this cow town
-make something better for himself.
- Yeah.
Better for himself,
but not better for the people.
You don't give two hoots for them.
You never have.
But you could end up being the governor
if somebody don't get in your way.
You think you can stop me?
I can stop you from using Billy Gregg
as a stepping-stone.
Not with the case you've got, Jabe.
Maybe not,
but you'll know you've been in a fight.
[DOOR OPENS]
BRET: I figured I'd have
no trouble at all staying off the jury.
After all, 1 was practically a witness.
But 1 found out that argument
applied to almost everybody.
Mr. Caldwell, you're the owner
of the Roan Horse Saloon?
Yes, sir.
I'm the owner and the day barkeep.
I've been around this town
ever since it started.
I can remember
when we didn't have more--
Yes, yes.
Now, you were present when the accused
entered your establishment
and approached the late John Sloan?
Yes, that's right.
It was Saturday afternoon.
And the customers sure had me hopping.
When Billy Gregg walked in,
I was the first one to notice him.
MAN:
All yours.
Mr. Sloan,
can I speak to you for a minute?
Go ahead.
Alone.
Haven't got time. I'm busy.
We can wait the game for you.
Anything you got to say, say.
I need a loan.
- Oh? How much?
- Three thousand dollars.
- That's a lot of money.
- Yes.
What does a boy like you
want with all that money?
I wanna build a new place,
get some furniture, other things.
Maybe a couple of heifers
to bulk out my herd some.
Why so fancy?
What's the matter with the cabin you got?
Oh, it's all right for me, but
I'll give you 10 percent on the money.
That's more than the bank gives.
Don't you wanna tell me
what you need a new house for?
Well, Lucy Sutter and me
are planning to be married.
I want better for her than what I got.
Why don't you mortgage your house
and your beef? Deal them, Logan.
I tried the bank and every other place
I could think of after that.
So I'm the last chance, huh?
- Last one you can turn to?
BILLY: Yeah, that's right.
Must stick in your crew
to have to come to me.
A man don't like to ask money
from anyone.
- Yeah, least of all me.
- If you say so.
Come on, play. Keep it going.
Mr. Sloan, will you lend it to me?
I don't think so.
Your pa couldn't do anything
with that scrubland
and I don't think you will either.
The house and the herd's worth
all of 3000.
Nobody else seems to think so.
Neither do I.
- I haven't got the cash anyway.
- You got over 6000 from that cattle sale.
Look, I don't wanna lend.
Now stop begging.
I shouldn't have to, Sloan.
When you was getting started,
my father lent you $3000.
You never paid it back.
You owe me 3000.
And I didn't pay that debt
for a good reason.
Besides, it's run over so long
a period of time, it's outlawed.
- It's uncollectible bylaw.
- That's bank law.
There's other law
that should hold a man.
I paid your pa more than 3000 help
over the years.
I got reason to think he took more
when I wasn't looking.
Get up. Get up!
I wouldn't want you to kill him.
He's winning a lot of my money.
This is on the house, boys.
On the house.
And the bays calmed down,
the poker game started again.
And I didn't have to buy a new mirror.
The last time--
That's all.
- Thank you, Mr. Caldwell.
- Thank you.
Your witness.
Uh, uh
Well, I
I just wanna hear
that one part over again.
About what Sloan said to Billy
just before Billy went for his gun.
Said Billy's pa took him for better
than $3000 while his back was turned.
No. You mean he just as good
as called this boy's father a thief?
He couldn't have said it no plainer.
I'd like to point out
that insults aren't shooting licenses.
Seems you don't need no license
to go shooting off your mouth.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
So we tied Gregg up
and took him to the sheriff.
After that,
we went back and rode the fence.
Barbed wire had been clipped
on one of the back sections.
JABE:
Well
Well, now, Lem, when you stopped
Billy Gregg, how did he look?
I mean, did he look wild and mean?
Or did he look mostly scared?
BLAINE:
Object.
- Defense is trying to lead the witness--
- That ain't the point.
But I wish that someone
would set me straight on one thing.
Why would a man who was supposed
to have planned a robbery
and then killed someone
because of it
take care to come in by the back door
when he arrived
and then run out the from door
when he left?
Desperate, guilty men do things like that.
So do scared, innocent ones.
That's all, Lem.
When you jailed Bill Gregg that night,
had he been drinking?
There was liquor on his breath.
BLAINE: You went to Sloan's place
and you found him dead.
Did your examination go further
than the house?
I went to look over the cut fence.
Lem showed it to me.
That's where I found the clippers
that did the job.
Thank you. Your witness.
There's something the prosecutor said
that interested me.
Trying to prove that Billy has got just about
every vice that a young fella could have
he dragged in that business
about liquor on his breath.
Sounds like he's trying to say
Billy was drunk.
- Well, he wasn't, Jabe.
- He wasn't, huh?
[CHUCKLES]
Well, I'm sure he couldn't be all the things
that Mr. Blaine says he is.
First he says he's drunk,
then he says he's sober enough
tn put a bullet right in the middle
of a man's heart.
I don't know, but looks to me
like the prosecutor don't know
just what he's trying to prove.
CY:
Them's the ones I sold to Billy Gregg.
About three months back.
Bill has always been short on money
and that pair has got a busted spring,
so I sold it to him for half-price.
I enter this into evidence.
Any questions?
JABE:
Yes. Let me see that thing.
Now, Cy, do you mean to tell me
that you remember this pair of clippers
nut of all the clippers you sold
through the years?
CY: That's what I said, Jabe.
JABE: And I know you mean it, Cy.
You've always had sharp eyes
and a good memory.
And you're right as rain, Cy,
these are Billy's clippers.
He told me so himself.
And don't nobody forget that.
You'll find out why later on.
All right, Cy.
Well, now, doc,
would you say that Billy was the sort
to have a mean streak?
Objection, Your Honor.
I've stand by while counsel
repeatedly used the name "Billy"
tn describe the defendant.
An obvious attempt
to make a grown man appear
to be a mischievous lad of 8.
Now I simply must object.
The good doctor isn't qualified
to judge mean streaks.
Though I imagine he has removed
many a bullet from men
who were shot by models of virtue.
[LAUGHING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
JUDGE:
All right, hold it down.
Any other questions, Jabe?
No.
You're excused, doc.
BLAINE:
The prosecution rests.
JABE: Mr. Blaine seems to think
this is all a big joke.
That a boy fighting for his life
is a pretty funny animal.
He wants to save time
wants to speed up the case.
All right.
He'll speed up the case
to send a boy to his death.
Well, I'll speed it up to send Billy Gregg
out of this court a free man.
Call for my first witness,
William Gregg.
[MURMURING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Yes, sir.
Now, Billy--
Oh, I'm sorry. I meant "Mr. Gregg."
Now, Mr. Gregg,
tell us exactly what happened.
In your own words.
Well, what happened that afternoon
in the Roan Horse Saloon
is pretty much the way it was said.
I was pretty riled, all right
but going home and thinking of it,
I was glad Mr. Maverick spoke up
and kept me from drawing my gun.
Well, the next afternoon,
1 was sitting on the porch trying to think.
Worry my way out of things.
[HORSE SNORTS]
No need for that, Bill.
I didn't come for trouble.
Don't drop your gun, then. Come ahead.
I came over to talk to you
about the money you asked for.
I asked, you said no.
Well, I thought a lot about it since.
You think about
your calling my pa a thief?
That ton.
Maybe that most of all.
Like you said, your pa did give me
some help when I first got started.
But your coming up to me like that
in the saloon, and brazenly
well, it sort of rubs a man the wrong way
to have folks think that he needed help.
No shame in needing help.
Everybody does one time or other.
Yeah, but it's like I said
I did pay off your pa little by little
over a period of time.
We never got around to writing
any new notes or picking up the old one.
All happened so gradual.
Then your pa died,
and you ended up with the old note.
- You could've said that yesterday.
- That's just the point.
If I'd said it then, it would've looked like
I was trying to squirm out of something.
Naturally, I said something I didn't mean,
something that wasn't true.
I know your pa would never steal.
- You tell that to the men at the saloon.
- No, wait a minute, Billy.
I came over here
to offer you something worth more
than just apologizing.
I wanna make up for what I said.
Well, don't you understand?
I wanna loan you the money.
And what will you take for it?
No mortgage, no interest, no nothing.
Pay me when you can.
You don't want anything?
Sure, I do. I don't want you
telling anybody where you got it.
Folks will get the idea I'm going soft.
It'll be five times as hard to do business.
And 50 times as hard
to keep my head up.
You got a big pride, Sloan.
Well, if I was a kid your age,
just starting allover again
maybe I wouldn't need it.
Now it's about all I have.
Seems I never really did know
your good, Mr. Sloan.
You and a lot of other people.
You mind riding aver tonight? I always
pasta couple men at the from gate
when I got a chunk of cash around.
You can go through your north field
and through the fence the back way.
I'll clip it on the way home.
Like you say.
You swear you won't tell nobody
about this, Billy?
- Nobody at all?
- Don't worry about it.
So a couple hours later
I rode over to Sloan's place
through the back acres.
The barbed wire was cut,
like he said it would be
and I went on through.
Now, Mr. Gregg,
you've told this story twice.
You still say the wire was already cut,
Sloan didn't ask you to cut it.
He'd done it himself
when he rode back home.
He took my clippers
and left them to be found.
I move that last be stricken
from the record.
Strike it out. Disregard that last remark.
BLAINE:
No one saw you on the trip?
No.
There were two cowboys at the gate.
I could make them out a little.
But I tied my horse back of the house,
and they didn't see me.
Then you took special pains not to be seen.
You were willing to let Sloan's accusation
against your father go unanswered
if he lent you the money.
My pa is dead.
A little name-calling
can't hurt him too much.
But I got my own name to make.
My own life.
And that money could help me do it.
BLAINE: So a combination of pride,
which every man has
and a will to make a name
brought you unseen to the back door
of John Sloan's ranch after dark.
You're twisting it all out of shape.
He's making it sound
like I went out to dry-gulch Sloan.
I never. You're saying I didn't care enough
about my pa to stand up for his name.
I simply stated the facts
in your own words.
Object.
To what, Jabe?
The prosecutor's last remark
or to your client's outburst?
To the deliberate baiting of my client.
Attack the evidence if you will,
but don't attack the boy.
Now, you just sit down, Billy.
Take it easy.
Everybody knows how much you loved
and respected your pa.
I object, Your Honor
tn counsel's instructing the witness
while under examination.
Sustained. Jabe, don't do any more
of that kind of thing.
Yes, Your Honor.
BLAINE:
So you entered the house. Then what?
I told you.
Tell the jury again.
BILLY:
Well, I tapped on the door.
Sloan was sitting behind his desk.
Oh, good evening, Billy.
- Mr. Sloan.
- Come on in.
- How are you?
- Fine, thank you.
- Let's have a drink, huh?
- Yeah. Thanks very much.
Sit down.
Have a little celebration.
There you are.
To you and Lucy Sutter.
Makes me real glad
that I'm able to help you two kids.
Go on, drink up.
Pour yourself another one.
All right.
Watch this, Billy.
Here's the new house
and the new furniture.
The beginning of a good life
for you and Lucy.
Seven, eight, nine.
Does me good to see the sparkle
in your eyes.
Thirteen, 14, 15.
What are you seeing, Billy?
What you said.
Most of all, Lucy's face.
- Twenty-one, two, three, four--
- Twenty-five.
That's all right.
Go right ahead, count along.
- Twenty-eight, 29, 30.
- Thirty, huh?
Thirty 100-dollar bills.
Oh, you're not gonna count them again,
are you?
For fun? Or don't you trust me yet?
- Thanks, Mr. Sloan.
- I'm glad to do it.
Careful on your way out.
Hold it right there, Gregg.
Now, don't turn around.
Put your hands on the door frame.
- What's this all about?
- Surprised?
BILLY:
Not very.
But I don't figure you'll gun me down
in cold blond.
You'll hang for it.
What, for killing a holdup man?
Ha, ha, ha.
Who's gonna believe that I lent you
that money after what I said about your pa?
No.
But a hotheaded youngster,
lifting a few drinks
deciding to take what I wouldn't
give him, folks would believe that.
- You went to a lot of trouble.
- No trouble.
Just cut a few strands of wire
and posted two witnesses out from.
But why?
You really think you're good enough
for Lucy Sutter?
You.
A fool kid with nothing but a dirty shack
and a few scrubby acres of land.
Well, you're not good enough!
Lucy's gonna marry me.
So that's it. You think, if you kill me,
Lucy will have anything to do with you?
That's why I didn't go after you
in the saloon, boy.
You think Lucy will mourn a thief
for very long?
You're gonna die a thief.
Ugh!
BILLY:
I headed for the door and out.
Those two fellas came up
and took me into town.
- That's all.
- Those are the facts?
Just like it happened.
I never knew Sloan felt that way
about Lucy.
BLAINE:
No, I suppose not.
I wonder if Sloan ever knew it.
- What do you mean by that?
- Oh, we'll get to that later.
Now tell me this.
The day before you went to Sloan's
to get the loan
you had bad words with him
at the Roan Horse Saloon, is that correct?
I said it was.
Yet the very next day
when Sloan came to you
and offered the money,
you had no suspicions?
At first.
What he said seemed to make sense.
A man noted for hard dealing
who came to you
and practically begged your help
in not revealing a kind heart
and you believed him?
Yes.
Yet you weren't surprised, you say,
when Sloan pulled a gun on you.
No. I always thought he was a snake,
and he proved it.
But you say you believed his story.
Well, he oiled me up
and got me out there.
Sloan asked you to sneak in
through a place he cut
in his own barbed wire
and you didn't suspect a thing.
Just went right ahead, innocent as a lamb.
Yes.
[MURMURING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Your friends and neighbors
seem to find that
as unbelievable as I do, Mr. Gregg.
That's enough, Mr. Blaine.
Don't draw the spectators
into your prosecution.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Anyway, you believed him?
- Yes.
BLAINE: Why?
I needed the money, and I guess I was
ready to be convinced of anything to get it.
And if you were ready
to be convinced of anything
you were ready to convince yourself
that any means were fair.
That you were justified in stealing
what you believed to be yours
-because of the outlawed note?
- No. I wouldn't have gone outside the law.
You were heard to say
that there were other laws besides
book law that should govern a man.
- I didn't mean it that way.
- You decided to enforce the law
and tank not only the 3000
but the rest of the money as well.
- I didn't take anything.
- There were over $6000 on you
when the sheriff had you empty
your pockets. That's true, isn't it?
- Sheriff said so, yes.
- How did it get there?
I don't know.
[CROWD MURMURING]
Now, Miss Sutter
you're one of the few schoolteachers
this town has had.
If that weren't interesting enough,
you're a lovely girl.
Isn't it true that some of our citizens
have satisfied their curiosity
and interest in you
by stopping by the schoolhouse?
Yes.
And Mr. Sloan met you in town sometimes
and held you in conversation.
You've had conversation
with many of our male citizens.
- Yes.
- The judge, for instance.
Jabe over there.
Mr. Hamelin. Jasper.
Would you say that all of them
were in love with you?
Even Jasper?
[LAUGHING]
Of course not.
Did John Sloan ever propose marriage?
No.
Well, did he ever profess a love for you?
Well, not in so many words.
Then how do you know he loved you?
A woman can tell about such things,
Mr. Blaine.
Hm.
Step down.
[CROWD MURMURING]
Your Honor, my summation will be brief.
I won't dwell on the unshakable facts
that have been offered in proof
of Bill Gregg's guilt.
These facts are condemning enough.
But there's something
even more condemning.
The defense.
A fairy tale.
Without basis in anything
except in the mind of the defense attorney.
We find ourselves still without a motive
for the involved scheme
which the late John Sloan is supposed
to have created.
The defense went to the extent of placing
the beautiful Lucy Sutter on the stand
tn lie for the man
she was about to marry.
Now, I honor her noble lie.
She loves Bill Gregg deeply.
But the love she says
John Sloan held for her
is without proof of any kind.
No one else in this community
knew of it.
Not the citizens of this town.
Not Bill Gregg himself.
Not even Lucy Sutter.
But the motive for Bill Gregg is evident.
Clear.
A long-standing hate
for a debt he thought had gone unpaid
a desire to make a home
for the wife-tn-be
and an insult against
his father's name.
I won't ask for a verdict of guilty.
There can be no other.
[MURMURING]
Pass your ballots down
as soon as you've voted.
"Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
- Not guilty."
- What?
Oh, that's right. "Not guilty."
"Guilty. Guilty."
One "not guilty."
Is somebody trying to make a joke
out of this?
You sound as if a man doesn't have a right
to his own vote.
- It was you?
- That's right.
You've got no right to hold things up.
You don't even belong in this town.
We're gonna have another vote right now,
and this time we do it right.
Now, hold on, Pike.
Let him have his say.
Must have reasons.
The man don't do things without reasons.
First, I'd like to suggest
a little bet to Mr. Pike.
- A bet?
- We haven't got time for that.
Well, business is where you find it.
We'll all be old men before I change
my vote and let Bill Gregg hang.
And we'll all belong in our graves
before I let a man guilty as sin go free.
Which brings us to that little bet.
I have $500 here
that says we leave this room
with a verdict for acquittal.
Five.
It's a fool thing, offering a bet like that.
There's 11 of us here
already said he's guilty.
I've played poker with you, Mr. Pike.
You like to get your man out on a limb
if you hold four aces.
Well, you're holding them.
You've heard the bet. Am I called?
You can hold the stakes.
Um Now, wait a minute.
Let's name it again.
You say that the verdict will be unanimous
for innocent, and that includes my vote?
Done.
You notice how Mr. Pike put his finger
right on the point
that made the odds so bad against me.
Pike himself must vote for acquittal.
- Go ahead, Maverick. What about reasons?
- Yes. What do you mean?
That afternoon
in the Roan Horse Saloon
you remember that Sloan called
Gregg's father a thief?
That's right.
I wonder why Sloan
should practically force Gregg
into drawing a gun on him.
The boy was pushing him.
Hard enough
that a simple "no" wouldn't do?
- Sloan didn't have to yell "thief."
- I think the man's got a point.
Gregg told a story so unbelievable
that even he couldn't give a reason for it.
But that argument in the saloon
was set up by Sloan.
He asked for it.
- That part fits Gregg's story.
PIKE: "Story."
What else could he say?
That's the best he could do.
And Blaine tied him up in it.
Why, he looked guilty enough
for hanging right then.
Oh, well,
you can't judge by a man's looks, Pike.
When he stumbles over his own story,
you can.
I doubt that.
Doubt. That's all I have to go on,
is doubt.
And how many of you men
would let Bill Gregg hang
if there was any doubt at all?
Any reasonable doubt.
All right, bays,
pass them down as soon as you voted.
JUROR:
Here we are.
"Guilty.
Guilty.
Not guilty."
Mine is still here.
Looks like I'm not alone anymore.
PRICE:
"Guilty. Guilty.
Not guilty. Not guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
- Guilty." And mine.
- And mine.
Eight to four.
You let fancy talk switch you over?
It's none of your business
how I vote on a secret ballot.
Call for a poll and I'll say I vote guilty,
same as I wrote.
And I say it's none of your business, Pike.
But I vote not guilty.
Mr. Maverick said reasonable doubt.
Well, I've got one.
Everybody knows
Sloan was a hard man
and not the straightest
when he figured to lose.
You ought to know that, Pike.
You and him had trouble
when he cheated at cards.
That was between him and me.
I knew it and he knew
he couldn't get away with it.
But a man who will cheat once
will cheat twice.
Maybe. But Sloan would stink at murder.
I know that, and so does everybody else.
And from what I've heard
there's even less chance
that Bill Gregg would kill.
So it's just a difference of opinion,
Mr. Pike.
And there's a point there, Pike.
Get this, then. My opinion won't change.
Maverick can tell
all the bedtime stories he wants
but facts are facts
and as long as I got a vote,
Bill Gregg don't go free.
- Do you understand me?
- I'll vote as I see it.
You know something, Pike?
Here we are, all listening to reason,
or trying to
and you're just digging in your heels
to make a stand no matter what.
Maverick is talking about reasons.
I'm talking about fact.
What can he do with this fact?
Gregg says Sloan gave him $3000.
The sheriff found over 6.
All the cash that Sloan had.
What does that look like to you?
I'll admit that part bothered me too.
It's a pretty strong point.
Hey, you're doing a lot of talking,
but you got no answers.
BRET: Just as Sloan had to set the scene,
so have I.
How many of you would believe
a man wouldn't know how much money
was handed to him?
You, Mr. Hamelin?
Hamelin always counts things
three or four times.
Business. Gotta watch yourself.
A man wouldn't be shortchanged.
No sensible man.
Right. Anyone's careful
about being shortchanged.
About getting less than what is due him.
But is anyone too careful
about getting more?
Are you trying to tell me that Bill Gregg
stand there and didn't know
Sloan was giving him more than twice
as much as he was supposed to?
- You said it for me.
- I don't believe it.
Oh, it's not a hard trick
to fuel a man with.
Not if a man is 3 mm.
We made a bet. Five hundred each.
Stakes are being held in your pocket.
Take it out and count it.
Everyone saw the stakes put up.
Pike himself watched me count it out.
Should be $1000 there.
It's 1500.
[ALL LAUGHING]
“Ii a man is 3 Mai.“
That's what Pike said.
- Yeah, well
- It ain't the same thing at all.
It's exactly the same thing,
and you know it.
- Any verdict?
- Not yet.
Better get a decision, or you'll all be
putting up at the hotel tonight.
The sheriff's right. Let's take another vote.
If it'll do us any good.
JUROR: That's all right.
- First, may I have my extra 500 back?
[ALL LAUGHING]
"Not guilty. Not guilty."
- Eleven to one.
- For acquittal.
And that means it's still a hung jury
because my vote stays the same.
- What have you got to say about that?
- I'm about talked nut.
Oh, you're weakening, huh?
- No. It isn't a case of that, Pike.
JUROR 2: Do you realize what time it is?
- We're all getting" We're all--
JUROR 2: We wanna get out of it.
JUROR 3: Oh, come on.
JUROR 4: Let's get it done.
Go ahead, take another vote.
I say guilty, guilty, guilty.
HAMELIN:
First you say Maverick's making a joke
and new you stand fast.
There's a reasonable doubt.
Anybody can see that.
Mr. Pike has a right to his own opinion,
just like the rest of us do.
We're deadlocked. Your opinion is fixed.
Why do you still vote for hanging?
I've said it all along. Bill Gregg is guilty.
- That's your opinion?
- Naturally.
You're a poker player, Mr. Pike.
You're a pretty good one,
even though you only bet on sure things.
But haven't there been times
when the sure thing didn't pay off?
When your opinion was wrong?
Isn't there just the least chance
that Bill Gregg is innocent?
Not a chance.
Let me ask you something
about the odds of poker.
What are the odds against
drawing a pat hand?
I don't know. Plenty. Maybe 10-, 2040-1.
Let's say 10-tn-1,
just for the sake of argument.
After one pat hand
what would the odds be
against drawing another pat hand?
Same deal?
Hundred-inane maybe. Why?
- Ten times as much?
- Yeah.
And a third pat hand would be 1000-10-1,
and a fourth, 10,000
and a fifth pat hand, would 100,000-10-1
be a fair idea of the odds?
Well, a few thousand,
the odds doesn't matter.
I just wanna agree on something.
I can say, then,
that the odds against five pat hands
25 consecutive cards
from a full regular deck
shuffled, no tricks involved
are, say, 100,000-10-1?
Yeah. Yeah, I'd agree to that much.
Would you say those odds are about
the ones against Bill's story being true?
I'd say that too.
Now, what are you trying to say?
That your opinion, your judgment,
can be wrong.
That you, like anybody else,
can make a mistake.
I'm so sure of it that I'm willing
to stake Bill Gregg's life on it.
I'll take the long end of the bet.
I ain't quite sure what you mean.
Take the deck nut, spread it on the table.
Look them over. Everybody, if you want to.
I won't touch it.
Make sure it's a 52-card deck.
It's a straight deck.
BRET:
Shuffle them.
Shuffle them good.
Now cut them.
Again and again.
Are you satisfied
that they're well-shuffled and cut?
Yeah.
Now deal off the first 25 cards,
face down.
Now stack the 25
and keep your hand on it, Pike.
Set the rest of the deck aside.
Now let's make our bet.
I say that in those 25 cards
that you dealt
from a pack
that you shuffled and cut
there are five pat hands,
not in regular order, you understand
but the five pat hands are there.
Do you believe that?
Five pat hands in these 25 cards?
No. No, I don't.
I'll bet another 500,
and Bill Gregg's life, that there is.
Oh, wait a second, Maverick.
You're a gambler and can risk your cash
but you can't put up
a man's life against--
Look, hold on. Wait a minute.
This is between Maverick and me.
He named it.
What do you mean, Gregg's life?
If I win, you vote to free him.
- And if you lose?
- If I lose, I'll stop fighting you.
I can't expect the others
to vote his life away.
This jury might still be deadlocked,
but the next one will hang him sure.
There's a joker here somewhere.
You're trying to trick me
into voting your way.
- Don't you trust your opinion?
PIKE: You're a professional.
I haven't handled the deck.
The best manipulator in the world
can't control a deck he hasn't touched.
HAMELIN:
What's the matter, Pike?
Odds ain't good enough?
You can win another 500.
I'm still figuring.
You're gonna make five pat hands
out of these 25 cards?
That's straights, flushes, full houses?
That's right.
Can I shuffle them again?
BRET: It's an honest deck, Mr. Pike.
You looked at them before.
Thank you, Mr. Pike.
Now, I'll try to put them in suits,
see how many flushes we can make.
If we're lucky, we'll get three.
They seem to be running pretty good.
Looks like a straight flush.
Well, Mr. Pike, we did.
We got We got three flushes.
PRICE:
Looks like four flushes there, Bret.
BRET:
You're right, we have.
One, two, three and four.
I think, possibly
The king of hearts and a nine.
We got four flushes and a straight,
Mr. Pike.
Five pat hands.
A diamond flush, spade flush
club flush, heart flush,
and a king-high straight.
PIKE: Well, that's
HAMELIN: Five pat hands.
PRICE:
I never saw anything like that.
Maverick, how many times
can five pat hands be made
nut of any 25 cards?
Practically every time.
I call it Maverick solitaire.
Call the sheriff.
Tell him we got a verdict.
[EXCITED CHATTERING]
BAILIFF:
Here comes the jury, folks.
For a while there,
I thought we never would reach a verdict.
Well, hanging the jury
would've been better than hanging Billy.
Come to think of it,
we never did take a final poll.
Did Pike ever say "not guilty"?
Well, not in so many words,
but we made a bargain.
Sure,
but Pike never really changed his vote.
Maybe he's 511“ sure at you
{or having made 3 {em out oi him.
We'd better ask him now.
[GAVEL RAPPING]
Gentlemen of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?
Well, Mr. Price?
You do have a verdict, don't you?
Well, yes, we do.
I think.
You think?
Well, do you have a verdict
or don't you?
Yes, Your Honor, we have.
JUDGE:
Well, what is that verdict?
- We find for not guilty.
- This is ridiculous.
The jury obviously is not in agreement.
I demand a polling of the jury.
The jury will stand to be pulled.
How do you say?
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
JUROR 2:
Not guilty.
HAMELIN:
Not guilty.
JUROR 3:
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
JUROR 4:
Not guilty.
[COURTROOM CHEERING]
[GAVEL RAPPING]
This case dismissed.
Well, you made me look pretty foolish.
I'm sorry, Pike.
I was just betting
that you were a pretty good man.
And a fair one.
How about a little poker?
I can get back to business now.
[English - us - SDH]