Alfred Hitchcock Presents s02e25 Episode Script

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Alfred Hitchcock.
Tonight's play takes place in merry old England, and is called, "I Killed the Count.
" When they asked me to wear this, I demurred.
I didn't realize it would be an invitation for automation to take over.
Empty.
Now what does that imply? Oh well! Let the play begin.
Count Mattoni, your tea.
Oh, there you are! Too drunk to make it to bed this time.
Well, I hope you slept it off.
Count Mattoni, wake up, sir.
It's 8:00 It's awful! Simply awful, Inspector! Having a tenant shoot himself in Oxley Court.
All the publicity.
The notoriety.
I'm afraid Count Mattoni didn't shoot himself, Mr.
Martin.
Someone did that for him.
What? You mean that he was murdered? In Oxley Court? How dreadful.
Mr.
Martin, will you tell us a little about your late tenant? His previous address, references, business habits, friends, that sort of thing? Yes, I'll get his address from the records, of course, but I'm afraid there's not very much else that I know about the Count.
He's only been here about three months.
So far as I know, he had no business.
The maid's here, sir.
Do you want to see her now? Yes, show her in.
Yes, sir.
And you'll get us whatever else you can from your records, will you? Yes.
Immediately.
This is Polly Stevens, Inspector.
The maid on this floor, she's the one who discovered the body.
Ah, yes.
Thank you.
Yes.
Won't you sit down? All right.
We know you've had rather a shock, Polly, and talking about it may be disturbing, but I'm afraid we must ask you a few questions, so I'll be as quick as I can, and you just try not to let it upset you.
Hmm? Oh, it don't.
Good.
Why not? Oh, I've been mixed up in so many murders and robberies and whatnot, it's an old story to me.
I'm always losing me job because me employer got arrested or shot or something.
That's how I lost me last one.
I see.
Then you probably know the kind of question I want to ask you.
Now, then When did I last see the deceased alive? Did I notice anything unusual? Who were his friends? Did I ever hear him quarreling? Yes, well.
Suppose we just run through that batch for a starter.
Well, I last seen him last night when I came in to turn the bed down.
About 9:00, as usual.
He came in as I was leaving, drunk, as usual.
Am I going too fast for you? No, no, no.
Go on.
As for friends, I never saw him with anybody else.
No wonder, if you ask me.
Oh.
You didn't care for him, then? He wasn't no gent.
I'll say that much.
I see.
Tell me.
Have you ever seen this before, Polly? Yes.
It's his.
He keeps it in that drawer there.
Now, when you came in this morning, did you notice a cartridge case, by any chance? On the floor or anywhere? No.
I didn't.
Can I get on with me beds now? I'm getting terribly behind.
Oh, yes.
Of course, yes.
And thank you for being so helpful, Polly.
Do you want to talk to some of the other tenants now, sir? No, I think we'll finish with our landlord first.
Oh, yes, sir.
Oh, thank you.
Yes, this is your first murder since they passed you out of Hendon, isn't it, Raines? Yes, sir.
Yes, well, it should be a good experience.
Of course, I'm afraid you'll find that some of that beautiful theory they taught you at Hendon won't stand up in actual practice.
But, don't let that worry you.
No, sir, I shan't.
Just remember to be thorough and persevere, and you'll be all right.
You can take my word for that.
I have rather a good record myself, as it happens.
Twelve murders so far and 11 convictions.
Oh, that's very good, sir, isn't it? What happened to the other one, sir? Well, let's run over what we have, Raines.
Yes, sir.
The time of death, according to Surgeon Dodds, probably between midnight and 2:00 a.
m.
Cause of death, gunshot wound in temple from close range.
Probably from gun found here, which belonged to the deceased, a Count Victor Mattoni.
His wallet, found here with two very good fingerprints in blood on one of the bank notes, sir.
Very obliging of him, I think.
Yes, sir.
If they belong to the murderer.
Well, of course, Raines.
This tassel or whatever it is looks like it might have been torn off a drapery or something.
But it doesn't seem to match anything in here.
Well, let me see it.
And this turned over lamp, and that's about all, sir.
Yes.
But no cartridge case.
No, sir.
Strange room, a fired pistol, a bullet and no cartridge case.
Shall I send the pistol and the wallet down to the Yard, sir? Yes.
Have the prints checked against our records, and as soon as the surgeon has the bullet, have it checked against the gun.
Yes, sir.
Listen to this, Raines.
"Lord Sorrington regrets that he must ask Count Mattoni to regard the dinner invitation "provisionally extended for Monday the 17th as definitely cancelled.
" Viscount Sorrington, eh? So he knew the Count! Doesn't sound very happy about it, does he? Well, try and get him on the telephone.
There's a number here, Grosvenor something.
Yes, sir.
That's odd, sir.
Oh, what? Well, this is dated the first, sir.
That's 13 days ago.
Well, this is only postmarked yesterday.
Yes, it is.
I wonder what it's been doing since Come in.
Grosvenor, 9555, please.
Here is the Count's previous address, Inspector.
In Rome.
Oh, thank you.
Is Lord Sorrington there, please? Thank you.
Yes, Mr.
Martin? There don't seem to be any references, I'm sorry to say.
He always paid his rent in advance, very promptly.
So we didn't ask for a name.
Oh, by the way, Mr.
Martin, is this flat occupied? Just one moment please, excuse me, sir, I have his office on the wire now.
Oh, good.
Hello? Inspector Davidson of Scotland Yard here.
I'd like to speak to Lord Sorrington, please.
No, I'm sorry.
I'm afraid you'll have to interrupt him.
Lord Sorrington? This is Inspector Davidson of Scotland Yard.
I'm so sorry to disturb you, sir, but there's been an accident to a friend of yours, Count Victor Mattoni.
Who'd you say? There must be some mistake, Inspector.
I've never heard of the man.
I beg your pardon, sir.
Are you sure? Because Could you please come over to the Count's flat, sir, so we can talk about this? Oxley Court, Baker Street.
That's quite impossible, Inspector.
I have an important engagement in a few minutes.
Yeah.
Well if you insist, in In about an hour, then? We'll try not to keep you long, sir.
Thank you so much.
Goodbye.
Now, this next flat, we noticed the doors were unbolted on this side.
Is that usual? Oh, no, sir.
No.
Oh, dear, it's been a great worry to me.
There was a terrible scandal here once when That was before my time, of course.
Yes, of course.
Is the flat occupied now? Well, yes, in a way.
Well, what do you mean, "In a way"? A gentleman named Rupert Oh, dear, I'm afraid he's rather mysterious, too.
He engaged the flat two weeks ago, by letter, enclosing a week's rent.
Only a week? Yes.
Yes.
The furnished flats are let by the week sometimes.
So I thought he would just stay a week.
But on the following Friday morning, Polly found another week's rent in an envelope on the table.
What does he look like? Nobody has seen him, as far as I know.
Except Mullet.
The night liftman on the first night.
Polly dusts the room every day but she says it doesn't look lived in at all.
Oh.
Well, I shall like to have a word with Mr.
Rupert if he's there.
I don't know.
We could see.
Good.
Now, Mr.
Martin, what other tenants are there on this floor? Well, in this wing, only Mr.
Rupert, Inspector.
That flat is unoccupied.
Two ladies in the other wing, and one empty flat there.
They've all been told not to leave until you've seen them, sir.
One of them is of the theater, a dancer, sir.
A Miss La Lune.
Steady, Raines.
Open up.
Another week's rent.
So he was here last night.
Look here, sir.
The cartridge case! So it is, and now we're getting someplace.
What is it, Inspector? What does it mean? It means that you're not likely to be seeing your Mr.
Rupert.
Not as a tenant, at least.
Do you mean that he shot the Count? A tenant shot a tenant? Well, if he didn't, he'll have some very difficult questions to answer.
Yes.
If he fired from here, the cartridge case could've been ejected there.
Look at this, sir.
What? It's a letter to a Bernard K.
Froy.
"Dear Mr.
Froy, "I must repeat that I have nothing whatever to discuss with you.
"I do not wish to see you either here at my flat or" My hat, sir! It stops.
There's a space, and then it goes on, "Froy has just come in room, can see him in mirror.
"He has gun, if anything happens you will" And that's all, sir.
Now, let me see it.
Is that the Bernard K.
Froy? The American fellow, the racehorse owner and polo player and all that? I doubt if there are two Bernard K.
Froys.
Get me The Dorchester Hotel right away, please.
I believe we can let you return to your duties now, Mr.
Martin.
Would you be good enough to ask Clifton to step in? Yes, I'd be glad to.
Thank you.
Hello, Dorchester? Is a Mr.
Bernard K.
Froy staying with you? He is.
No, I don't want to speak to him at the moment.
Oh, is he? Good bye, miss.
Thank you.
He's there, all right.
But leaving this morning, so he thinks.
Come in.
All right, Clifton, off you go, take somebody with you and get right over to the Dorchester, and bring back a Mr.
Bernard K.
Froy with you.
Bernard K.
Froy, sir? Tell him it's nothing important but be sure and bring him, understand? Yes, sir.
Well that didn't take long, did it? Do you think that Rupert and Bernard K.
Froy are one and the same and the murderer? Well it seems rather inescapable, don't you think? Of course, we may have to prove Froy is Rupert.
So, let's get on with that.
Now, the night liftman, Minnow Mullet, sir.
Whatever his name is, we'll have him next.
Yes, sir.
Right away.
Mullet isn't here yet, sir.
We've sent for him, sir.
He only lives just around the corner.
Good.
What we're looking for, Johnson, is someone who knows Mr.
Rupert in the next flat.
Have you seen him? Could you identify him? Never set eyes on him myself, sir.
But you were on the lift last night.
Didn't you bring him up or see him? No, sir.
All right.
Thank you.
Oh, you don't happen to know Mr.
Bernard K.
Froy, do you? An American.
Oh, yes, sir! That's one I would know.
He was in to see the Count, he was.
One afternoon, maybe three weeks ago.
I remember because when I told him the Count was out, he gave me a funny look and said, "He's in, all right, he's just afraid to see me.
" Then you'd know him, you think, if you saw him again? Oh, yes, sir.
That's all.
Thank you.
No, sir, I never saw Mr.
Rupert, night or morning.
Wouldn't know he was ever in the place, if he hadn't left the rent that time.
Do you go in to turn the bed down at night whether he's there or not? Yes, sir.
About what time? Oh, 9:00, when I leave here.
Now, did you notice when you went in last night if the rent was on the table? Yes, sir.
I did notice.
And it wasn't.
Well, thank you, Polly.
I think that's all for now.
Yes, sir.
Mullet's here, sir.
Mullet, eh? That's right.
Odd.
What's so odd about it? Oh, nothing.
I I seem to know your face from somewhere.
I don't know yours.
You're the night liftman here, is that right? That's right.
And you showed Mr.
Rupert up to the next-door flat when he arrived? Yes, sir.
Would you know him? Could you positively identify him if you saw him again? Well, of course I could.
Good.
Now, have you seen him since that time Excuse me, sir.
Mr.
Froy is here.
Oh, well, uh, Mullet, would you wait in the bedroom, please? For the time being.
We'll call you when we need you.
Very good, sir.
Just a minute, Raines.
All right, show him in.
Come in, please, Mr.
Froy.
I'm Detective Raines, sir.
This is Inspector Davidson.
He'd like to ask you a few questions.
How do you do? I'd like to ask a few myself.
To begin with, what's this all about? I'm leaving for the Continent this afternoon and I haven't time for games.
We seldom indulge in games at Scotland Yard, Mr.
Froy.
We wanted to ask you about an acquaintance of yours.
Count Mattoni.
Count who? A Count Victor Mattoni.
Sorry, never heard of him.
Perhaps I should tell you that Johnson, one of the liftmen here, says he can positively identify you.
And that you called in to see the Count one afternoon.
And you said, when told he wasn't in, that he was afraid to see you.
Shall I send for Johnson? Oh, never mind.
All right.
I knew him.
Didn't wanna be connected with him, that's all.
He's a pretty unsavory character.
I stopped by once to try to collect a gambling debt.
But it didn't work.
And why did you come by last night, Mr.
Froy? Last night? But I didn't.
That once was the only time.
And you don't happen to have rented the next flat under the name of Rupert? Of course I didn't.
Why should I? Would you be kind enough to examine this? Why didn't you tell me you had this? So you were here.
Seems rather obvious, doesn't it? Yes.
I'm afraid it does, Mr.
Froy.
In fact, the whole thing seems rather obvious.
Inescapable, I should say.
The Count was murdered last night.
Yeah, I know.
I killed him.
Well.
I killed him.
Would you care to tell me about it? However, you're not compelled to make a statement.
And I must warn you that anything you do say will be taken down in writing and maybe used in evidence.
What difference does it make? I'm cooked anyhow, with the letter and everything else.
Yes, I'm afraid you are, Mr.
Froy.
And besides the letter, there's your renting of the next flat under the name of Rupert.
The cartridge case there Wait a minute, what's this Rupert business? I don't know anything about him or the flat next door or anything else.
I think you're rather confused, Inspector.
Do you? We might as well settle this right now, I suppose.
Come in, Mullet.
Now, will you take a good look at this gentleman, please? Well? Well, what? Well, have you seen him before? No, not him.
Huh? You mean You mean he's not Rupert? Nah.
Nothing like him.
Mr.
Rupert looks like a real gent, he does.
Yes, but Hello? Oh, is he? No, thank you.
Mr.
Froy, I'm afraid I must interrupt this for a moment.
We shan't be long.
Will you follow me, please? Clifton, will you escort Mr.
Froy to the empty flat opposite, please? Yes, sir.
Come on, sir.
You can go now, Mullet.
But don't leave the premises.
No, sir.
Lord Sorrington? Yes.
I'm Inspector Davidson.
It's very good of you to come, sir.
Sorry to have kept you waiting.
I should like to know what this is all about, Inspector.
Won't you sit down, sir? Thanks.
I hope we haven't inconvenienced you too greatly, sir.
If we'd known what we do now, it might not have been necessary for you to come.
However, now that you're here, all we want to ask you is what you know about Count Mattoni.
You see, he's been murdered.
Oh.
But I told you, Inspector, I've never heard of the man.
I'm sure you'll have some good reason for saying that, sir, but, uh Where'd you get this? It came in the post this morning, though apparently it was written a fortnight ago.
My secretary shall hear about this.
Well, obviously I did know the fellow, but though very slightly.
And if you know him at all, Inspector, you'll understand my reluctance to be connected with him.
Especially with Scotland Yard involved.
One assumes something disreputable with his sort, you know.
Yes, I quite understand.
So, there's nothing you can tell us about him? No.
I'm afraid not.
So, if that's all I beg your pardon, sir.
Excuse me, my lord.
What is it, Raines? Are you sure? He insists, sir.
All right, bring him in.
Yes, sir.
Now, I'm afraid something has come up to delay us some more, sir.
If you'll be so kind.
Yes, of course.
Mullet.
Do I understand that you believe this gentleman to be Rupert? There's no believing about it, sir, that's him.
Good morning, sir.
What's he talking about? Rupert, sir, is the name of a tenant in the next flat.
Why, the man's mad.
Are you sure, Mullet? Well, of course I am.
How could I forget a fine looking gent like him? All right.
Thank you.
Look here, Inspector, I don't know the meaning of this but obviously the man's lying.
I'm afraid not, sir.
You'll be difficult to mistake.
Besides, what purpose could he have? All right, I did take the flat.
After all, Inspector, you're a man of the world.
Is there anything wrong in that? Wasn't it indiscreet to take such a flat in the same building next door to someone you knew? It's pure coincidence.
I I had no idea that Count Mattoni had a flat in this building.
Much less that Oh.
My letter.
Yeah.
You have not been frank with me, sir.
And now, I shall like you to tell me everything you know about the murdered man.
Well, you're obviously going to find out the truth sooner or later, so I might as well admit it.
Admit what, sir? I killed him.
You killed whom? I killed Mattoni.
That's impo Are you sure, I mean Did you say you killed him? Yes, that's right.
I killed the Count.
Well, this is embarrassing how time is running out and here we are with an unfinished story on our hands.
I'm afraid you'll have to wait until our next show to find out more about just who killed the Count.
Personally, I shall welcome a week in which to think up some answers.
After all, Froy and Lord Sorrington can't both be telling the truth.
There's nothing I detest more than a murderer who tells fibs.
Next time, we shall continue the strange case of Count Victor Mattoni.
Thus far, our desperate detectives have two very good suspects.
But their confessions seem to ask more questions than they answer.
If all this has managed to pique your curiosity, please join us for the next installment.
Oh, I know what you're thinking.
No, I did not kill the Count.
Good night.