Perry Mason (1957) s02e19 Episode Script
The Case of the Caretaker's Cat
( suspenseful theme playing ) ( noirish jazz theme playing ) ( soft theme playing ) ( soft piano music playing ) ( meows, telephone ringing ) Miss Devoe.
Miss Devoe! ( ringing continues ) Hello? Yes, this is the Baxter residence.
I'll see if he can talk.
( cat meows ) It's Mr.
Hilliard from the bank.
Peter Baxter speaking.
I'm sorry to inconvenience you, Mr.
Baxter, but it is a large amount of cash, and I would like a verification.
Well, yes, sir.
It's James Hing, your caretaker.
Confound it, Hilliard, can't you follow instructions? Cash it.
Yes.
Give him the money.
( mysterious theme playing ) Thank you, sir.
( suspenseful theme playing ) ( fire crackling ) ( ominous theme playing ) "I leave 50,000 to the American Heart Association, "50,000 to the American Cancer Society "$100,000 to establish a trust fund "to provide two scholarships yearly "to the California Institute of Technology.
"My personal bequests are as follows: "to my grandson, "Kenneth Baxter "one dollar.
"To my grandson, Stuart Baxter "one dollar.
"To my granddaughter, Winifred Oakley "one dollar.
"I hereby bequeath and devise "the rest and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to James Hing, my caretaker.
" Hing?! Why, the old man must've been out of his mind! Now I see why grandfather and Hing had their heads together so much the last few weeks.
STUART: We're his blood relations! He's-- He's just a caretaker! But a rich caretaker, Stuart.
Three-and-a-half- million dollars rich.
He told us he was giving his money to us: Stuart, Winnie and me.
Didn't he, Mr.
Roland? That was his intention two weeks ago.
His will bequeathed one third to each of you.
But then your grandfather changed it.
Well, we'll change it back! Now, just a minute, Hing.
Do you actually think you're going to keep that whole inheritance? In all the time I worked for your grandfather I have never contradicted his wishes.
Would you expect me to start now? Thank you, Mr.
Roland.
Good afternoon.
( mysterious theme playing ) You have no idea why Mr.
Baxter wanted to leave you all his money? No, sir.
I noticed that Kenneth Baxter and Stuart Baxter are the contestants who wish to keep the will from being probated.
Are they brothers? They are cousins.
You said there was a granddaughter? Yes.
Winifred Oakley.
She is not contesting the will.
Not yet, anyway.
But her doctor friend is not of the same mind.
And what's his name? Douglas Keene.
Do you think they can do it, Mr.
Mason? I mean, break the will? I'll need time to appraise the situation carefully, Mr.
Hing.
Thank you, Mr.
Mason.
I am very grateful that you are representing me.
Oh.
I almost forgot.
I would like to pay you a little something on account.
Well, we'll talk about it later, when your funds aren't all tied up.
Oh, I have money, Mr.
Mason.
Will 500 be sufficient? That, uh part of the estate? Oh, no.
I saved it.
I have saved all my life.
I have your receipt here, Mr.
Hing.
There you are.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Mr.
Hing.
( door opens ) ( door closes ) He seems a curious mixture.
Of what, Della? Mm.
Of a man not quite sure of himself.
Yet knowing exactly what he wants, and quietly getting it.
I wonder what Peter Baxter was like.
Gertie, see if you can reach Paul Drake.
( ominous theme playing ) WOMAN ( over P.
A.
): Dr.
Jackson.
Calling Dr.
Jackson.
( bell dings twice ) Oh, Dr.
Keene.
There was a James Hing here to see you.
Hing? Uh, what did he want? I told him you were out to lunch.
But I guess he didn't wait.
And then there was a police detective.
A Lieutenant Tragg.
Oh.
Well, did he say what he wanted? No, doctor.
I see.
Thank you, nurse.
WOMAN ( over P.
A.
): Dr.
Lindley.
Calling Dr.
Lindley.
( door closes ) What's the matter, Winnie? Well, don't you smell it, Doug? ( sniffs ) Gasoline or something.
Yes.
Hm.
Here it is.
"Volatile spirits.
" Well, what's that? A highly inflammable paint thinner.
Say, this is it.
What? Well, didn't you know the arson squad's been investigating the fire? Yes.
But what's that have to do with volatile spirits? They think that was the agent used to start the blaze.
What do you suppose Hing was doing here? You think he put that bottle of volatile spirits in your closet? Yes, because he's trying to throw suspicion on me.
Because he killed your grandfather, and he's getting desperate.
I don't believe it.
You're closing your eyes.
You know your grandfather would never-- Would never cut you off, if he was in his right mind.
Winnie you're the only person he ever loved.
And it's a million dollars, honey.
A million dollars.
Why, that'd set us up for the rest of our lives.
And all you have to do is go along with your cousins Stuart and Kenneth.
They need your help.
The money seems to mean so much to you.
It does.
More than we mean to each other? Well, I, uh guess I kind of wound up, didn't I? Heh.
I'm sorry, honey.
You do what you think is best.
( mysterious theme playing ) ( cat meowing ) ( digging, cat meowing ) ( phone rings ) Hello.
Mr.
Mason's office.
Well, I'm sorry, he's gone for the day.
Who's calling, please? This is James Hing.
Do you know where I can reach him? Oh, I'm afraid that's impossible, Mr.
Hing.
Mr.
Mason drove down to San Diego, and I don't expect him back till midnight.
But I must see him before 11:00.
It is very important, Miss Street.
Everything depends on it.
Well, I'll see what I can do.
Uh, where can he reach you? At police headquarters.
They are holding me for murder.
( ominous theme playing ) I know it looks bad, Mr.
Mason.
Ididget the money from the bank and I did bury it.
And you bought the volatile spirits? Yes, sir.
And started the fire? Yes, sir.
And knew that a helpless old man, an invalid, was going to be trapped in an upstairs bedroom? You own a cat named Monsoon? Yes, sir.
Two hours before the fire broke out, you took the cat to a vet.
You picked him up the following day.
That doesn't mean anything.
It might mean a great deal to a jury.
There was nothing wrong with the cat, yet you removed it from the premises.
Why? You must've known everything was gonna be destroyed.
I did not murder Mr.
Baxter.
Then who did? You're not giving me very much to work with, Mr.
Hing.
I am telling you everything I can.
What does that mean? Why did you go to the hospital this afternoon? I went to see Dr.
Keene.
What for? When you found he wasn't there, why didn't you wait for his return? I decided not to.
What made you go to the hiding place and dig up that money tonight? ( swallows ) Why was it so necessary to see me before 11:00? Why was it too late after 11? Youasked me to represent you, Mr.
Hing.
I can't do that without your complete confidence.
I am sorry, Mr.
Mason.
So am I.
Very sorry.
Under the circumstances, I think perhaps you'd better find other counsel.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( door opens ) ( door closes ) Well, that's the way it goes.
Client either lies to his attorney or won't talk at all.
Why was Hing digging up that money? Hm.
Probably to make his getaway.
Why did he have to see me before 11:00 last night, and why was it too late? Paul, I'm going down to police headquarters.
( door opens ) ( slow, dramatic theme playing ) Mr.
Mason.
I didn't expect to see you again.
Just one more question, Mr.
Hing.
Yes, sir? The reason you dug up that money last night.
The reason you had to see me before 11:00.
You had an appointment with him, didn't you? With whom, Mr.
Mason? Peter Baxter the man who supposedly died in the fire.
He's alive, isn't he? ( dramatic theme playing ) Those are the facts, sir.
The whole truth.
I was supposed to meet Mr.
Peter Baxter last night at 11:00 out at the palisade to give him the $5,000.
And the fire, everything else, was a conspiracy between you two to fool everyone into thinking he was dead? Yes, sir.
Why? He wanted to find out what his heirs would do if he cut them off.
Well, what did he expect them to do? I don't know.
I just know he wanted to test them.
What about the body that was found in the room? He said it would be burned beyond recognition.
Where did he get the body? He didn't tell me that.
I think he had a doctor helping him.
This doctor was to arrange everything.
Getting him out of the house, getting the other body in.
I think also they were going to put some kind of chemical beneath the bed to help the fire burn more rapidly.
Do you know who the doctor was? No, sir.
All I know is that if a light was burning in the bedroom window at a certain time, I was to start the fire.
It's incredible that anyone could conceive a plot so fantastic, and further, that you would be a party to it.
I have worked for Mr.
Baxter for almost 25 years and I would do it again for him out of loyalty, respect and out of love.
Where is Mr.
Baxter now? I don't know.
According to the police, you were alone at the house on the night of the fire.
That is not true.
That bank manager, Mr.
Hilliard, was there for a while, when I took the cat to the vet's.
Was Mr.
Hilliard gone when you returned? Yes, sir.
It must have occurred to you that something might go wrong.
That you might be accused of murder.
I know that.
Mr.
Baxter thought of that himself.
There is an envelope in Mr.
Roland's office.
What's in the envelope? An explanation of how everything I did, I was acting under Mr.
Baxter's instructions.
Mr.
Mason please don't upset what Mr.
Baxter is trying to do.
He went to a lot of trouble.
Oh, I can see that.
How do you know there is such an envelope? Have you talked with Mr.
Roland? Why, no.
But eventually, Mr.
Baxter will show up in person to explain everything.
Suppose he doesn't? Don't you realize you've put yourlifein his hands? Mr.
Mason will you change your mind about representing me? Have you told me the truth? All of it? Yes, sir.
All right, Mr.
Hing.
Yes, Mr.
Roland.
Mr.
Hing told Perry Mason about the sealed envelope.
Uh, do you have it? You can tell Mr.
Mason that if I had such an envelope, and my instructions were not to reveal its existence, I should have to refuse to answer.
And if you had such an envelope, you wouldn't know what was in it? If my instructions were not to open it, how could I? Supposethe contents would supply vital evidence in a murder trial.
I believe it would take a judicial order to force me to admit the existence of such an envelope or to disclose its contents.
I see.
Uh thank you, Mr.
Roland.
Also, Mr.
Drake, uh, just to, uh, clarify the matter even if I didnothave such an envelope, uh, I would still have to refuse to answer.
I understand.
Thank you, sir.
( mysterious theme playing ) Wasn't a ridiculously large sum of money, Mr.
Mason.
But it was large enough to me to verify it with Mr.
Baxter.
And he instructed you to honor the check? Yes, he did.
Then what prompted you to visit him later that day, Mr.
Hilliard? Bank business.
You see, since it wasn't convenient for him to come to the bank, I made at least one trip a month to his home.
What time of day was this, uh, last visit? About 7 in the evening.
Perhaps a little later.
Who else did you see there? Oh, no one.
Not even Mr.
Hing? Well, now, I can't swear that he wasn't there, but I actually didn't see him.
And how did you get into the house? Oh, Mr.
Baxter said the front door were to be left open for me.
I see.
Uh, would you happen to know who is the executor of the Baxter estate? Yes, Mr.
Mason.
I am.
( phone rings ) Thank you, Mr.
Hilliard.
( ominous theme playing ) I was just wondering how badly the body was burned.
Why do you ask that, Perry? Uh, did you have any trouble with identification? Well, should we have? I thought perhaps you might.
Do you have any reason to believe that it is not Peter Baxter? Yes, I do.
Put your mind at rest.
The corpse is Peter Baxter.
No doubt at all? It's Peter Baxter all right, Perry.
( sighs ) And I'm afraid your client murdered him.
( light, pleasant music playing ) ( people chattering ) We'll have to find out, Paul.
What if Roland actually doesn't have an envelope? He'd better have.
Hing tells us it wasn't Baxter's body.
We found out it was.
Now, if there's no envelope I'm gonna do something, stir things up a bit.
"Stir things up?" We're in a bad spot.
May have to prod things along.
Get the principals to thinking something's in the wind.
Get them to working at cross-purposes.
How? Can you plant a story? Sure.
If it's newsworthy and true.
Well, thiscouldbe true.
In any case, all we need is a rumor to start things going.
Now, Perry, wait a minute.
Now, look, Paul I'm forced to assume that my client is telling the truth.
That Baxter and Hing did cook up a deal.
I must rely on the theory that someone overheard their conversation.
Tsk.
All right.
I'll go along with you as long as I can.
But don't be taken in by your client's seeming simplicity.
The whole thing has no corroboration.
However, I'll do my best.
What story do you want planted? That there's a frantic investigation going on regarding a later will dated after the one entered for probate.
I'll tell the press the rumor comes from an unimpeachable source.
Thank you.
Can we make the afternoon edition? We can try.
( dramatic theme playing ) DELLA: Mm-hm.
Yes, Mr.
Burger.
I'll give him your message.
Thank you.
Take it that was the district attorney.
Mm-hm.
Second call.
Anybody else? Mr.
Roland? Yes, Mr.
Roland said he'd call back.
Dr.
Keene called twice.
Winifred Oakley called.
And there's someone waiting to see you: Stuart Baxter.
Do you want to see him? By all means.
Will you come in? Mr.
Stuart Baxter.
How do you do, Mr.
Baxter? ( door closes ) Sit down, won't you? Thank you.
Oh, I, uh see you got the paper.
Rather interesting.
May resolve our conflicts, if there is a new will.
Have you spoken to Mr.
Roland about it? No, Ijust saw the headline and came right here.
Now, lookMr.
Mason, uh, I'm not a gambling man.
And I'm not a pig.
You know, "Live and let live" is my motto.
Now, If you were to say to me, "Stuart, let's make a deal.
" Uh, new will or no new will, c-- Call off your contest.
Let's split the estate among the heirs and Hing.
Share and share alike.
But that might be obviating your grandfather's real interests.
Now, you must realize, if there is a later will, Hing will probably be cut out.
Mm.
Possibly.
And if Hing's found guilty, he can't inherit either.
That's true.
Well, what do you say? Well, I'm obligated to convey your offer to my client but I'm not going to recommend accepting it.
You'll need some help defending Hing.
Uh I got some information.
I'll testify for him in court.
What information? About my cousin, Kenneth Baxter.
Now, he and that nurse, Edith Devoe, have been seeing each other on the sly.
Now, she must've found out grandfather was going to change his will, told Kenneth about it.
So, uh, to prevent his being disinherited, Kenneth killed him.
You'd sacrifice your cousin that way? We-- Why not, if it's true? Wellwhat about it, Mason? Uh, look what I'm offering you and Hing.
MASON: I'll take it under advisement.
( door closes ) Would you, um care to go out this way? Yeah.
Someone else to see you: Kenneth Baxter.
Show him in.
All right.
Will you come in? Thank you.
Mr.
Kenneth Baxter.
Evening, Mr.
Baxter.
What can I do for you? ( door closes ) Mr.
Mason.
Oh, I see you have the paper.
Oh, yes.
Any truth to the rumor about the new will? That's what I came here to askyou.
I suggest you ask Mr.
Roland.
Have you been in touch with him? It's occurred to me that we could get together with profit on this whole business, will or no will, and come to some mutually satisfactory arrangement.
You mean split the estate four ways, no matter what? ( exhales ) Of course, I can't speak for the others but I'd be perfectly willing to listen to a proposition like that.
Nobody gets hurt-- And everybody makes a profit.
Exactly.
And I might even be able to help you save Hing.
Oh? I happen to know that my cousin, Stuart, and Edith Devoe, my grandfather's nurse, were awfully chummy, and they-- Were you going to suggest that you would testify that your cousin, Stuart Baxter, had the motive and opportunity to have killed your grandfather? Well, yes.
He did.
He-- He was carrying on with Miss Devoe and-- ( telephone rings ) All right.
Just a moment.
Hello? Yes, Della? Who? Hold on, would you? I'm sorry, Mr.
Baxter.
You had no appointment, but I tried to squeeze you in.
However, now I have an important telephone conference.
You'll have to excuse me.
Well, looks like we're making progress.
All right, Della, put him on.
Yes, Mr.
Roland? Mr.
Mason.
I don't quite appreciate this arbitrary announcement of a later will.
I drew up Mr.
Baxter's last will and testament.
The one now offered in probate.
I'm more concerned with a sealed envelope, as you know.
I'll tell you the same thing that I told Stuart and Kenneth Baxter.
There is no new will.
There is no envelope, no letter.
And there are no instructions, no explanations.
I don't know what Mr.
Hing hopes to accomplish by this fabrication of an envelope.
There's not a word of truth to his whole story.
That's definite, Mr.
Roland? That's definite.
( hangs up ) ( ominous theme playing ) I wasn't exactly jumping for joy when Mr.
Baxter died.
It was an excellent job.
Thirty a day, seven days a week.
Are you, uh married, Miss Devoe? No.
On the evening of the fire, you were off duty? Yes.
On that particular evening, was Mr.
Baxter under sedation? Now, that's a strange thing.
He refused to take his sedative that evening.
Oh, why? I was leaving about He said if he wanted his pills, he'd take them later.
He said he was going to watch television.
Was that customary? No.
He'd never done it before.
Miss Devoe, I have reason to believe that Peter Baxter and James Hing conspired to burn the house down and make it appear that Peter Baxter died in the fire.
Why would they wanna do a thing like that? Mr.
Baxter wanted to test his heirs.
See how they'd behave after he was dead.
Sounds like Mr.
Baxter.
I think someone in that household learned about the plan and took advantage of it.
Killed the old gentlemen.
Now, uh who could have learned about it? Why ask me? You were close to him all the time.
I'm sorry.
I-- I can't help.
Did you know he was changing his will? No, Mr.
Mason.
Frankly, it didn't interest me.
And it still doesn't.
Except Except what? The only person who really cared for him.
Winifred Oakley.
It's a tough break for her.
( mysterious theme playing ) Thank you, Miss Devoe.
( dramatic theme playing ) Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do.
Be seated.
Come on.
Now, doctor, you performed the autopsy on the body of the deceased, is that correct? Yes, sir, I did.
We were given a dental chart.
We compared the chart with the teeth of the deceased.
Uh, we had the assistance of a dentist during that examination.
Was there anything else, doctor? We noticed, uh, metallic plates screwed to the right femur, uh, for purposes of repairing what was evidently an old and rather complicated fracture.
And what were your conclusions? That the body burned in the fire on February 1st at the Baxter home was unquestionably the body of Peter Baxter.
Thank you, doctor.
Your witness.
Doctor you found evidence that the deceased was under heavy sedation at the time of death? Yes, sir, I did.
Is it possible that the heavy sedation itself may have caused the death of the decedent? Yes.
MASON: Thank you, doctor.
That's all.
BURGER: Now, Mr.
Nelson, I show you this exhibit, which we found at the scene of the fire, and ask if you can identify it.
I sure can.
Came from my paint store.
See? All my merchandise is rubber-stamped on the bottom.
So it is.
Now, Mr.
Nelson, do you have any personal recollection of the sale of this item? Absolutely.
You see, we don't have much call for volatile spirits.
So when this fella came in the store-- Just a second.
When-- When you say "this fella," to whom are you referring? Him.
The defendant.
Mr.
Hing.
All right.
Go ahead.
I was about to say, volatile spirits is a dangerous combustible.
So I asked him what he was gonna use it for.
When he said he wanted a paint thinner, I tried to recommend something safer, but he was kind of obstinate, you might say.
So I gave him what he wanted.
And what he wanted was volatile spirits? That's what he wanted.
Thank you, Mr.
Nelson.
Your witness.
No questions.
Call your next witness, Mr.
Burger.
Mr.
John Hilliard, please.
Uh, Mr.
Hilliard, you are the executor of the estate of the late Peter Baxter? I am.
During his lifetime, did you have any business relationship with the deceased? Well, yes.
As vice president and general manager of the bank, I handled all his funds there.
Uh, did you, under instructions from the deceased deliver $5,000 to the defendant, James Hing? Yes.
Do you know anything about a private conversation, or a series of private conversations, between the deceased and the defendant, James Hing? Objection, Your Honor.
Incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
Any conversation between decedent and defendant overheard by Mr.
Hilliard is not binding on the defendant, unless it is a part of the res gestae.
Your Honor the conversation I wish to get into the record occurred on the day of the fire, and is indeed, I believe, part of the res gestae.
Unless you can connect it more particularly, Mr.
Burger, I will sustain the objection.
Then if it please the court, I should like to withdraw this witness and call Edith Devoe to the stand in order to lay a more proper foundation.
Reserving, of course, the privilege of recalling this witness later.
Mr.
Mason? If my cross-examination is also deferred, I have no objection, Your Honor.
Call Miss Devoe to the stand.
The witness may stand down.
Miss Devoehow long were you employed as a nurse by the late Peter Baxter? Eight months.
Are you acquainted with the defendant, James Hing? Yes, I am.
Did he and the deceased ever have long, private conversations? Yes.
Well, did they have a long, private conversation on the day of the fire? Yes.
Would you please tell this court what happened prior to that particular conversation? Well, Hing came into Mr.
Baxter's room and told me he wanted to be alone with Mr.
Baxter.
All right.
Go ahead.
I did leave but one point, I returned.
I heard Hing say to Mr.
Baxter "All right.
We'll do it now.
" And then he saw that I was in the room, and he asked me to leave again.
So I left.
Wasn't Mr.
Baxter normally an aggressive, domineering sort of man? Yes.
That time, though, he seemed very submissive.
As if As if Hing had some strange kind of influence over him.
Objection! I'll stipulate that that last remark may be stricken from the record as being a conclusion of the witness.
Thank you, Miss Devoe.
Cross-examine, counselor.
Miss Devoe do you recall a visit I had with you at your apartment? Yes.
At that time, did you not tell me you knew of no private conversations between Peter Baxter and the defendant? I told you I didn't know of any private conversations that'd been overheard by any other member of the household.
Did you personally overhear one? No.
The door was closed.
So that you couldn't have overheard a thing? No.
Why did you listen? To find out if I was right.
I thought Hing had a mysterious influence over Mr.
Baxter.
But you didnotoverhear their conversation? No.
Then your impression that the defendant had some mysterious hold over the decedent still remains unverified? Yes.
Thank you, Miss Devoe.
No further questions.
Gordon T.
Roland.
CLERK: Mr.
Gordon T.
Roland to the stand.
Mr.
Roland, as attorney for the late Peter Baxter, among other services, you prepared his will.
Is that correct? I did.
And after his death, you entered that will for probate? Yes, sir.
Is the defendant, James Hing, a legatee under the terms of that will? He is.
BURGER: And what is the amount of his inheritance? ROLAND: More than $3-and-a-half million.
I see.
Uh, Mr.
Roland, there's been talk in the newspapers and rumors about a later will.
What do you know about any such will? Nothing.
There's also been talk about a mysterious envelope.
Do you know anything about an envelope or a letter connected in any way with the deceased? No.
I do not.
Thank you, Mr.
Roland.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
I have no questions of this witness.
Gentlemen I'll take this opportunity to recess for the lunch hour.
Court is adjourned till 2 p.
m.
( dramatic theme playing ) Mr.
Mason, you were right.
It was unwise for me to believe that this plan could not be upset.
I just don't believe Hing made up this story.
Paul find out who the insurance carriers are, and how much of a claim they paid on the fire damage.
On my way.
( slow, dramatic theme playing ) MASON: Your Honor, information of paramount importance has come to hand.
Before proceeding, I would like to recall a witness.
Mr.
Burger? Which witness? Mr.
John Hilliard.
No objection, Your Honor.
Call Mr.
John Hilliard to the stand.
Mr.
John Hilliard to the stand.
You're still under oath, Mr.
Hilliard.
Mr.
Hilliard, you've testified that you were the executor of Peter Baxter's estate? Yes.
I have here a memorandum from the Norwood Fire/Casualty, an insurance company.
They report that no claim has been made on behalf of the Baxter estate for fire damage.
That's right.
Why didn't you enter a claim? Well, the insurance had been cancelled two days before the fire.
Oh? Who canceled it? I did.
Acting on Mr.
Baxter's order, of course.
Did you ask him why he canceled the fire insurance? Yes.
And, as usual, he said I should just mind my own business and follow instructions.
Are you aware that it's a felony to set fire to one's own house and then claim insurance? Yes.
And since Peter Baxter did not want to commit a felony, he instructed you to cancel the fire insurance.
Well, I-- I don't know his reason, Mr.
Mason.
He didn't tell me.
I just followed instructions.
Mr.
Hilliard, a man is on trial for his life.
Now, we believe Peter Baxter left an envelope with a letter in it.
We know he didn't leave it with his attorney.
You are his executor.
You had a visit with him on the evening of the fire.
Now, he gave you that envelope, didn't he? Yes.
What's in it? I don't know.
Well, what were his instructions about it? Not to reveal its existence, and to keep it sealed for three months after his death.
MASON: And it still remains sealed? ROLAND: Yes.
There's still seven weeks left.
Where is the envelope? At the bank, in the vault.
I ask the court to order Mr.
Hilliard to produce and open this envelope.
Mr.
Burger? If it please the court Your Honor even if this envelope contains the explanation the defense is hoping for-- namely, a plot to pretend this murder happened --the state contends this very letter gives the defendant the opportunity and the motive to commit the murder, hoping to be protected by the explanation in the letter, and thus able to benefit from the will leaving him the decedent's entire fortune.
Mr.
Mason? Your Honor defense does not know exactly what is in that envelope.
However, it may contain a later will which contradicts the provisions of the present will.
If this is true the defendant's failure to inherit under a later will would leave the prosecution without a motive for murder.
We'd better examine that envelope, Mr.
Hilliard.
You will produce it in court tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.
m.
Your Honor, I have no further questions of the witness.
You may step down.
I was on duty at the desk when that gentleman came up and asked to see Dr.
Keene.
Let the record show that the witness was pointing to the defendant, James Hing.
Now, Miss Watson, how long was this after Dr.
Keene left his room? About ten minutes.
What did you tell the defendant? I told him Dr.
Keene was out to lunch, and I didn't know exactly when he'd be back.
And what did he do then? Well he said he'd wait for a while anyway.
And he did.
Later when I looked up, he was gone.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
Your witness, counselor.
Miss Watson, when you saw the defendant, was he carrying something? No.
Not that I could see.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
No further questions.
One moment.
Your Honor, I have one question on redirect.
Miss Watson, could you see boththe defendant's hands? No.
I only saw his left hand.
I never did see his right hand or the right side of his body.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
( sniffs ) Yes.
That's the odor.
Volatile spirits.
And I recognize that bottle.
It's the one I found in the closet of my room.
Had you ever seen the bottle before? No, sir.
Had you ever noticed the odor of volatile spirits in your room before? KEENE: Well, not before I, uh, left to take Miss Oakley to lunch.
So to the best of your knowledge, this bottle was planted in your room during the lunch hour? Yes, sir.
BURGER: Now, doctor ( puts bottle on table ) where were you on the night of February 1st? That's the night of the fire.
Well, Miss Oakley and I went to dinner, and then to a play.
And where did you get the tickets for that play? From the defendant.
When I called to take Miss Oakley to dinner that evening, he gave us the tickets, and said they were a gift from her grandfather, Mr.
Peter Baxter.
I think that'll be all, doctor.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Dr.
Keene how long were you gone from your room at the hospital? When I went to lunch? Oh, 20 minutes.
Possibly 30.
Now, you left your door open.
Is that customary? Oh, yes.
I have nothing there really worth stealing.
So anyone could have entered your room during that 20- to 30-minute period? Well, in a manner of speaking.
There-- There are nurses and doctors and orderlies around all the time.
Doctor, as a resident physician, do you have access to the hospital's drug supply? Access? Well, no, not indiscriminately.
Uh, narcotics and anodynes have to be signed for.
Where would you sign for them? With the nurse on duty at the dispensary.
It's been established that Peter Baxter refused to take his normal sedative on the night of the fire.
Yet the autopsy surgeon testified he was under heavy sedation at the time.
Could the heavy sedation itself have caused his death? Oh, of course.
If it was heavy enough.
Could react just like poison.
Now, doctor, you testified that on the night in question you went to dinner and the theater with Winifred Oakley? That's right.
Did you miss the first act of the play? Wha-- ( sighs ) How did you know? It's customary to check on the whereabouts of principals at the time of a murder.
Well, when, uh Winifred and I arrived at the theater, there was a message for me.
It's part of a doctor's life, Mr.
Mason.
He can be called out of a theater or off the golf course.
I had to visit a patient.
Where? At the hospital.
Now, to get to the hospital from the theater would it be out of your way to stop at the Baxter home? No.
Did you stop at the Baxter home? I certainly did not.
Now, tell me, doctor did you take any narcotics or sedatives from the hospital recently, signed for or not? I didn't take any narcotics or sedatives out of the hospital period.
Thank you, doctor.
No further questions.
I call Kenneth Baxter.
CLERK: Mr.
Kenneth Baxter, please.
( man coughs ) BURGER: Mr.
Baxter, on the night of February 1st-- that's the night of the fire --did you see the defendant, James Hing? KENNETH: I did.
BURGER: About what time? KENNETH: About 6:00.
He said my grandfather had two tickets for a play that night for Stuart and myself.
BURGER: When you say "Stuart," you're referring to your cousin, Stuart Baxter? KENNETH: That's right.
BURGER: Did your grandfather do things like this very often? No.
I was rather surprised.
But you did accept the tickets from the defendant and go to the theater? I did.
I think that's all, Mr.
Baxter.
Thank you very much.
Your witness.
Mr.
Baxter why were you surprised at getting the tickets from your grandfather? Well, we weren't exactly bosom pals.
He disapproved of you? At times.
What times? I guess whenever he thought about me.
That's why I wasn't surprised when I heard he was going to test us, and there might be a later will.
Have you seen any such will? No, I haven't.
Now, on the night in question, did you and Stuart Baxter leave the house together? KENNETH: I left the house about 6:30.
I met Stuart after dinner at the theater.
After the theater, did you and Stuart return to the house together? Yes, sir.
It was about 12:00.
The fire had already been put out.
Thank you.
Oh, uh by the way.
Did you ask nurse Devoe to join you that evening? Um, no.
Why should I? No reason.
Your Honor at this point, I would like to recall nurse Watson.
Miss Watson is a sometime custodian of the dispensary at the hospital.
If it please the court, this is all part of the defendant's case.
Counsel for the defense shouldn't be allowed to prove his case by cross-examination alone.
Nor should he be allowed to prove it by recalling witnesses for cross-examination.
I think we can take advantage of the relative informality of this hearing to pursue the evidence when it leads us on.
The witness may step down.
Miss Watson, please.
Then it's rather a routine matter for a doctor to request and sign for narcotics? Yes, sir.
How difficult would it be for someone not connected with the hospital to get to the dispensary and into the narcotics? Practically impossible.
There's someone on duty all the time.
As a matter of fact, anyonenotin uniform would stick out like a sore thumb in the dispensary or the doctors' quarters.
In other words, anyonewitha uniform would have escaped your notice? That's not true, Mr.
Mason.
It all depends on the Go on, Miss Watson.
Oh, that's funny.
It just came back to me.
What do you mean? The cap I saw.
What cap? WellI'd never seen one like it before.
I remember when I saw it, I thought to myself, "Hey.
That's kind of "cute.
I wonder where it's from.
" Don't all nurses wear caps? Yes, sir.
But each school of nursing has its own distinctive cap.
And a nurse graduating from an institution will wear its cap for the rest of her professional life no matter where she may work.
I see.
And this was a strange cap? Yes, sir.
I was gonna ask the nurse who was wearing it where it was from.
Why didn't you? Before I had a chance, she turned a corner and disappeared.
Well, what corner was this? Leading to the doctors' quarters.
When did all this take place? The same day the defendant, Mr.
Hing, came up and asked to see Dr.
Keene.
Do you recall the time? Around noon.
I ask you now to look around this courtroom and see if you can identify this nurse.
Yes, sir.
Ihavelooked around.
There she is.
MASON: Let the record show the witness is pointing to a previous witness named Edith Devoe.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
That's all.
Mr.
Burger? BURGER: No questions.
Miss Devoe, will you step forward, please? The witness may step down.
( people clear throats ) JUDGE: I've anticipated you, Mr.
Mason.
Do you have some questions to ask Miss Devoe? Thank you.
Yes, I do, Your Honor.
JUDGE: You may take the stand.
You're still under oath, Miss Devoe.
( man clears throat ) Now, Miss Devoe did you enter the hospital and deposit a bottle of volatile spirits in Dr.
Keene's room in order to throw suspicion on him? Iwasin the hospital.
You kept a supply of sedatives in the Baxter home? Yes.
You left the Baxter home around 7:00.
Did you return later? Not that night.
Then perhaps you worked with an accomplice.
Someone for whom a motive existed.
Because there was no motive foryouto kill Peter Baxter, was there? Who put you up to it, Miss Devoe? Would you have us believe you killed Peter Baxter for no reason at all? I didn't kill Mr.
Baxter.
You prepared the sedative.
But I didn't kill him.
Then who did? Stuart.
Stuart Baxter.
Well, she's lying! It's no use, Stu.
He came back to the house at theater-intermission time, Mr.
Mason.
He gave the old man the extra sedative.
Not me.
We checked on Stuart Baxter.
He did not leave the theater during intermission.
Now, Miss Devoe you've shifted all over the place, trying to plant suspicion anywhere and everywhere.
On Stuart Baxter, Dr.
Keene, James Hing.
( panicky ): That's not so.
The afternoon I spoke with you, I told you about a test will and the plot between Hing and Peter Baxter.
Now, you were the only one I told about this so-called test.
Yet, when Kenneth Baxter appeared on the stand, he knew all about it.
How, Miss Devoe? How would he know about it if you hadn't told him? It'sKennethBaxter you've been in love with, is it not? And it was Kenneth Baxter who left the theater that night during intermission.
( crying ): That's not so! It wasn't Kenneth.
I had nothing to do with him! ( sobbing ) ( tense theme playing ) It's all right, Edie.
Don't worry.
I knew I'd be caught.
I knew it from the beginning.
I never got away with anything in my whole life.
All right, thank you, Hamilton.
Goodbye.
Mr.
Burger have any more information? Mm-hm.
Miss Devoe admitted that she tricked Peter Baxter into taking a sedative in his chocolate, even though he had before refused it.
So at the time he was supposed to be calling his doctor friend for the substitute corpse, actually, he was sound asleep.
Well, then that's when Kenneth came back from the theater and gave him the overdose that killed him.
But if Mr.
Kenneth overheard everything Mr.
Baxter and I were-- MASON: Not everything.
He only heard that Mr.
Baxter was changing his will.
He knew nothing about the test.
A man knows so little.
Sometimes a man knows more than he admits.
Why did you say you didnotknow what was in the envelope? I was not at liberty to do so, Mr.
Mason.
In other words, Peter Baxter didn't want his heirs to know that if anyone contested the will, they'd be cut off.
Yes.
It was a test of loyalty.
What about your own loyalty? Didn't you go to the hospital planning to tell Winifred the truth? I did not, Mr.
Mason.
I went to tell Dr.
Keene not to force Miss Winifred to join Stuart and Kenneth in contesting the will.
But you couldn't tell him? No, I couldn't.
So you were loyal to Peter Baxter too, Mr.
Hing.
All along, all the way.
At the end, he was like a sick eagle.
He was strong and fierce all his life.
And yet, through this whole thing I felt like I was protecting him.
Strange, isn't it? ( cat meowing ) Goodbye, Mr.
Mason.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( noirish jazz theme playing )
Miss Devoe! ( ringing continues ) Hello? Yes, this is the Baxter residence.
I'll see if he can talk.
( cat meows ) It's Mr.
Hilliard from the bank.
Peter Baxter speaking.
I'm sorry to inconvenience you, Mr.
Baxter, but it is a large amount of cash, and I would like a verification.
Well, yes, sir.
It's James Hing, your caretaker.
Confound it, Hilliard, can't you follow instructions? Cash it.
Yes.
Give him the money.
( mysterious theme playing ) Thank you, sir.
( suspenseful theme playing ) ( fire crackling ) ( ominous theme playing ) "I leave 50,000 to the American Heart Association, "50,000 to the American Cancer Society "$100,000 to establish a trust fund "to provide two scholarships yearly "to the California Institute of Technology.
"My personal bequests are as follows: "to my grandson, "Kenneth Baxter "one dollar.
"To my grandson, Stuart Baxter "one dollar.
"To my granddaughter, Winifred Oakley "one dollar.
"I hereby bequeath and devise "the rest and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to James Hing, my caretaker.
" Hing?! Why, the old man must've been out of his mind! Now I see why grandfather and Hing had their heads together so much the last few weeks.
STUART: We're his blood relations! He's-- He's just a caretaker! But a rich caretaker, Stuart.
Three-and-a-half- million dollars rich.
He told us he was giving his money to us: Stuart, Winnie and me.
Didn't he, Mr.
Roland? That was his intention two weeks ago.
His will bequeathed one third to each of you.
But then your grandfather changed it.
Well, we'll change it back! Now, just a minute, Hing.
Do you actually think you're going to keep that whole inheritance? In all the time I worked for your grandfather I have never contradicted his wishes.
Would you expect me to start now? Thank you, Mr.
Roland.
Good afternoon.
( mysterious theme playing ) You have no idea why Mr.
Baxter wanted to leave you all his money? No, sir.
I noticed that Kenneth Baxter and Stuart Baxter are the contestants who wish to keep the will from being probated.
Are they brothers? They are cousins.
You said there was a granddaughter? Yes.
Winifred Oakley.
She is not contesting the will.
Not yet, anyway.
But her doctor friend is not of the same mind.
And what's his name? Douglas Keene.
Do you think they can do it, Mr.
Mason? I mean, break the will? I'll need time to appraise the situation carefully, Mr.
Hing.
Thank you, Mr.
Mason.
I am very grateful that you are representing me.
Oh.
I almost forgot.
I would like to pay you a little something on account.
Well, we'll talk about it later, when your funds aren't all tied up.
Oh, I have money, Mr.
Mason.
Will 500 be sufficient? That, uh part of the estate? Oh, no.
I saved it.
I have saved all my life.
I have your receipt here, Mr.
Hing.
There you are.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Mr.
Hing.
( door opens ) ( door closes ) He seems a curious mixture.
Of what, Della? Mm.
Of a man not quite sure of himself.
Yet knowing exactly what he wants, and quietly getting it.
I wonder what Peter Baxter was like.
Gertie, see if you can reach Paul Drake.
( ominous theme playing ) WOMAN ( over P.
A.
): Dr.
Jackson.
Calling Dr.
Jackson.
( bell dings twice ) Oh, Dr.
Keene.
There was a James Hing here to see you.
Hing? Uh, what did he want? I told him you were out to lunch.
But I guess he didn't wait.
And then there was a police detective.
A Lieutenant Tragg.
Oh.
Well, did he say what he wanted? No, doctor.
I see.
Thank you, nurse.
WOMAN ( over P.
A.
): Dr.
Lindley.
Calling Dr.
Lindley.
( door closes ) What's the matter, Winnie? Well, don't you smell it, Doug? ( sniffs ) Gasoline or something.
Yes.
Hm.
Here it is.
"Volatile spirits.
" Well, what's that? A highly inflammable paint thinner.
Say, this is it.
What? Well, didn't you know the arson squad's been investigating the fire? Yes.
But what's that have to do with volatile spirits? They think that was the agent used to start the blaze.
What do you suppose Hing was doing here? You think he put that bottle of volatile spirits in your closet? Yes, because he's trying to throw suspicion on me.
Because he killed your grandfather, and he's getting desperate.
I don't believe it.
You're closing your eyes.
You know your grandfather would never-- Would never cut you off, if he was in his right mind.
Winnie you're the only person he ever loved.
And it's a million dollars, honey.
A million dollars.
Why, that'd set us up for the rest of our lives.
And all you have to do is go along with your cousins Stuart and Kenneth.
They need your help.
The money seems to mean so much to you.
It does.
More than we mean to each other? Well, I, uh guess I kind of wound up, didn't I? Heh.
I'm sorry, honey.
You do what you think is best.
( mysterious theme playing ) ( cat meowing ) ( digging, cat meowing ) ( phone rings ) Hello.
Mr.
Mason's office.
Well, I'm sorry, he's gone for the day.
Who's calling, please? This is James Hing.
Do you know where I can reach him? Oh, I'm afraid that's impossible, Mr.
Hing.
Mr.
Mason drove down to San Diego, and I don't expect him back till midnight.
But I must see him before 11:00.
It is very important, Miss Street.
Everything depends on it.
Well, I'll see what I can do.
Uh, where can he reach you? At police headquarters.
They are holding me for murder.
( ominous theme playing ) I know it looks bad, Mr.
Mason.
Ididget the money from the bank and I did bury it.
And you bought the volatile spirits? Yes, sir.
And started the fire? Yes, sir.
And knew that a helpless old man, an invalid, was going to be trapped in an upstairs bedroom? You own a cat named Monsoon? Yes, sir.
Two hours before the fire broke out, you took the cat to a vet.
You picked him up the following day.
That doesn't mean anything.
It might mean a great deal to a jury.
There was nothing wrong with the cat, yet you removed it from the premises.
Why? You must've known everything was gonna be destroyed.
I did not murder Mr.
Baxter.
Then who did? You're not giving me very much to work with, Mr.
Hing.
I am telling you everything I can.
What does that mean? Why did you go to the hospital this afternoon? I went to see Dr.
Keene.
What for? When you found he wasn't there, why didn't you wait for his return? I decided not to.
What made you go to the hiding place and dig up that money tonight? ( swallows ) Why was it so necessary to see me before 11:00? Why was it too late after 11? Youasked me to represent you, Mr.
Hing.
I can't do that without your complete confidence.
I am sorry, Mr.
Mason.
So am I.
Very sorry.
Under the circumstances, I think perhaps you'd better find other counsel.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( door opens ) ( door closes ) Well, that's the way it goes.
Client either lies to his attorney or won't talk at all.
Why was Hing digging up that money? Hm.
Probably to make his getaway.
Why did he have to see me before 11:00 last night, and why was it too late? Paul, I'm going down to police headquarters.
( door opens ) ( slow, dramatic theme playing ) Mr.
Mason.
I didn't expect to see you again.
Just one more question, Mr.
Hing.
Yes, sir? The reason you dug up that money last night.
The reason you had to see me before 11:00.
You had an appointment with him, didn't you? With whom, Mr.
Mason? Peter Baxter the man who supposedly died in the fire.
He's alive, isn't he? ( dramatic theme playing ) Those are the facts, sir.
The whole truth.
I was supposed to meet Mr.
Peter Baxter last night at 11:00 out at the palisade to give him the $5,000.
And the fire, everything else, was a conspiracy between you two to fool everyone into thinking he was dead? Yes, sir.
Why? He wanted to find out what his heirs would do if he cut them off.
Well, what did he expect them to do? I don't know.
I just know he wanted to test them.
What about the body that was found in the room? He said it would be burned beyond recognition.
Where did he get the body? He didn't tell me that.
I think he had a doctor helping him.
This doctor was to arrange everything.
Getting him out of the house, getting the other body in.
I think also they were going to put some kind of chemical beneath the bed to help the fire burn more rapidly.
Do you know who the doctor was? No, sir.
All I know is that if a light was burning in the bedroom window at a certain time, I was to start the fire.
It's incredible that anyone could conceive a plot so fantastic, and further, that you would be a party to it.
I have worked for Mr.
Baxter for almost 25 years and I would do it again for him out of loyalty, respect and out of love.
Where is Mr.
Baxter now? I don't know.
According to the police, you were alone at the house on the night of the fire.
That is not true.
That bank manager, Mr.
Hilliard, was there for a while, when I took the cat to the vet's.
Was Mr.
Hilliard gone when you returned? Yes, sir.
It must have occurred to you that something might go wrong.
That you might be accused of murder.
I know that.
Mr.
Baxter thought of that himself.
There is an envelope in Mr.
Roland's office.
What's in the envelope? An explanation of how everything I did, I was acting under Mr.
Baxter's instructions.
Mr.
Mason please don't upset what Mr.
Baxter is trying to do.
He went to a lot of trouble.
Oh, I can see that.
How do you know there is such an envelope? Have you talked with Mr.
Roland? Why, no.
But eventually, Mr.
Baxter will show up in person to explain everything.
Suppose he doesn't? Don't you realize you've put yourlifein his hands? Mr.
Mason will you change your mind about representing me? Have you told me the truth? All of it? Yes, sir.
All right, Mr.
Hing.
Yes, Mr.
Roland.
Mr.
Hing told Perry Mason about the sealed envelope.
Uh, do you have it? You can tell Mr.
Mason that if I had such an envelope, and my instructions were not to reveal its existence, I should have to refuse to answer.
And if you had such an envelope, you wouldn't know what was in it? If my instructions were not to open it, how could I? Supposethe contents would supply vital evidence in a murder trial.
I believe it would take a judicial order to force me to admit the existence of such an envelope or to disclose its contents.
I see.
Uh thank you, Mr.
Roland.
Also, Mr.
Drake, uh, just to, uh, clarify the matter even if I didnothave such an envelope, uh, I would still have to refuse to answer.
I understand.
Thank you, sir.
( mysterious theme playing ) Wasn't a ridiculously large sum of money, Mr.
Mason.
But it was large enough to me to verify it with Mr.
Baxter.
And he instructed you to honor the check? Yes, he did.
Then what prompted you to visit him later that day, Mr.
Hilliard? Bank business.
You see, since it wasn't convenient for him to come to the bank, I made at least one trip a month to his home.
What time of day was this, uh, last visit? About 7 in the evening.
Perhaps a little later.
Who else did you see there? Oh, no one.
Not even Mr.
Hing? Well, now, I can't swear that he wasn't there, but I actually didn't see him.
And how did you get into the house? Oh, Mr.
Baxter said the front door were to be left open for me.
I see.
Uh, would you happen to know who is the executor of the Baxter estate? Yes, Mr.
Mason.
I am.
( phone rings ) Thank you, Mr.
Hilliard.
( ominous theme playing ) I was just wondering how badly the body was burned.
Why do you ask that, Perry? Uh, did you have any trouble with identification? Well, should we have? I thought perhaps you might.
Do you have any reason to believe that it is not Peter Baxter? Yes, I do.
Put your mind at rest.
The corpse is Peter Baxter.
No doubt at all? It's Peter Baxter all right, Perry.
( sighs ) And I'm afraid your client murdered him.
( light, pleasant music playing ) ( people chattering ) We'll have to find out, Paul.
What if Roland actually doesn't have an envelope? He'd better have.
Hing tells us it wasn't Baxter's body.
We found out it was.
Now, if there's no envelope I'm gonna do something, stir things up a bit.
"Stir things up?" We're in a bad spot.
May have to prod things along.
Get the principals to thinking something's in the wind.
Get them to working at cross-purposes.
How? Can you plant a story? Sure.
If it's newsworthy and true.
Well, thiscouldbe true.
In any case, all we need is a rumor to start things going.
Now, Perry, wait a minute.
Now, look, Paul I'm forced to assume that my client is telling the truth.
That Baxter and Hing did cook up a deal.
I must rely on the theory that someone overheard their conversation.
Tsk.
All right.
I'll go along with you as long as I can.
But don't be taken in by your client's seeming simplicity.
The whole thing has no corroboration.
However, I'll do my best.
What story do you want planted? That there's a frantic investigation going on regarding a later will dated after the one entered for probate.
I'll tell the press the rumor comes from an unimpeachable source.
Thank you.
Can we make the afternoon edition? We can try.
( dramatic theme playing ) DELLA: Mm-hm.
Yes, Mr.
Burger.
I'll give him your message.
Thank you.
Take it that was the district attorney.
Mm-hm.
Second call.
Anybody else? Mr.
Roland? Yes, Mr.
Roland said he'd call back.
Dr.
Keene called twice.
Winifred Oakley called.
And there's someone waiting to see you: Stuart Baxter.
Do you want to see him? By all means.
Will you come in? Mr.
Stuart Baxter.
How do you do, Mr.
Baxter? ( door closes ) Sit down, won't you? Thank you.
Oh, I, uh see you got the paper.
Rather interesting.
May resolve our conflicts, if there is a new will.
Have you spoken to Mr.
Roland about it? No, Ijust saw the headline and came right here.
Now, lookMr.
Mason, uh, I'm not a gambling man.
And I'm not a pig.
You know, "Live and let live" is my motto.
Now, If you were to say to me, "Stuart, let's make a deal.
" Uh, new will or no new will, c-- Call off your contest.
Let's split the estate among the heirs and Hing.
Share and share alike.
But that might be obviating your grandfather's real interests.
Now, you must realize, if there is a later will, Hing will probably be cut out.
Mm.
Possibly.
And if Hing's found guilty, he can't inherit either.
That's true.
Well, what do you say? Well, I'm obligated to convey your offer to my client but I'm not going to recommend accepting it.
You'll need some help defending Hing.
Uh I got some information.
I'll testify for him in court.
What information? About my cousin, Kenneth Baxter.
Now, he and that nurse, Edith Devoe, have been seeing each other on the sly.
Now, she must've found out grandfather was going to change his will, told Kenneth about it.
So, uh, to prevent his being disinherited, Kenneth killed him.
You'd sacrifice your cousin that way? We-- Why not, if it's true? Wellwhat about it, Mason? Uh, look what I'm offering you and Hing.
MASON: I'll take it under advisement.
( door closes ) Would you, um care to go out this way? Yeah.
Someone else to see you: Kenneth Baxter.
Show him in.
All right.
Will you come in? Thank you.
Mr.
Kenneth Baxter.
Evening, Mr.
Baxter.
What can I do for you? ( door closes ) Mr.
Mason.
Oh, I see you have the paper.
Oh, yes.
Any truth to the rumor about the new will? That's what I came here to askyou.
I suggest you ask Mr.
Roland.
Have you been in touch with him? It's occurred to me that we could get together with profit on this whole business, will or no will, and come to some mutually satisfactory arrangement.
You mean split the estate four ways, no matter what? ( exhales ) Of course, I can't speak for the others but I'd be perfectly willing to listen to a proposition like that.
Nobody gets hurt-- And everybody makes a profit.
Exactly.
And I might even be able to help you save Hing.
Oh? I happen to know that my cousin, Stuart, and Edith Devoe, my grandfather's nurse, were awfully chummy, and they-- Were you going to suggest that you would testify that your cousin, Stuart Baxter, had the motive and opportunity to have killed your grandfather? Well, yes.
He did.
He-- He was carrying on with Miss Devoe and-- ( telephone rings ) All right.
Just a moment.
Hello? Yes, Della? Who? Hold on, would you? I'm sorry, Mr.
Baxter.
You had no appointment, but I tried to squeeze you in.
However, now I have an important telephone conference.
You'll have to excuse me.
Well, looks like we're making progress.
All right, Della, put him on.
Yes, Mr.
Roland? Mr.
Mason.
I don't quite appreciate this arbitrary announcement of a later will.
I drew up Mr.
Baxter's last will and testament.
The one now offered in probate.
I'm more concerned with a sealed envelope, as you know.
I'll tell you the same thing that I told Stuart and Kenneth Baxter.
There is no new will.
There is no envelope, no letter.
And there are no instructions, no explanations.
I don't know what Mr.
Hing hopes to accomplish by this fabrication of an envelope.
There's not a word of truth to his whole story.
That's definite, Mr.
Roland? That's definite.
( hangs up ) ( ominous theme playing ) I wasn't exactly jumping for joy when Mr.
Baxter died.
It was an excellent job.
Thirty a day, seven days a week.
Are you, uh married, Miss Devoe? No.
On the evening of the fire, you were off duty? Yes.
On that particular evening, was Mr.
Baxter under sedation? Now, that's a strange thing.
He refused to take his sedative that evening.
Oh, why? I was leaving about He said if he wanted his pills, he'd take them later.
He said he was going to watch television.
Was that customary? No.
He'd never done it before.
Miss Devoe, I have reason to believe that Peter Baxter and James Hing conspired to burn the house down and make it appear that Peter Baxter died in the fire.
Why would they wanna do a thing like that? Mr.
Baxter wanted to test his heirs.
See how they'd behave after he was dead.
Sounds like Mr.
Baxter.
I think someone in that household learned about the plan and took advantage of it.
Killed the old gentlemen.
Now, uh who could have learned about it? Why ask me? You were close to him all the time.
I'm sorry.
I-- I can't help.
Did you know he was changing his will? No, Mr.
Mason.
Frankly, it didn't interest me.
And it still doesn't.
Except Except what? The only person who really cared for him.
Winifred Oakley.
It's a tough break for her.
( mysterious theme playing ) Thank you, Miss Devoe.
( dramatic theme playing ) Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do.
Be seated.
Come on.
Now, doctor, you performed the autopsy on the body of the deceased, is that correct? Yes, sir, I did.
We were given a dental chart.
We compared the chart with the teeth of the deceased.
Uh, we had the assistance of a dentist during that examination.
Was there anything else, doctor? We noticed, uh, metallic plates screwed to the right femur, uh, for purposes of repairing what was evidently an old and rather complicated fracture.
And what were your conclusions? That the body burned in the fire on February 1st at the Baxter home was unquestionably the body of Peter Baxter.
Thank you, doctor.
Your witness.
Doctor you found evidence that the deceased was under heavy sedation at the time of death? Yes, sir, I did.
Is it possible that the heavy sedation itself may have caused the death of the decedent? Yes.
MASON: Thank you, doctor.
That's all.
BURGER: Now, Mr.
Nelson, I show you this exhibit, which we found at the scene of the fire, and ask if you can identify it.
I sure can.
Came from my paint store.
See? All my merchandise is rubber-stamped on the bottom.
So it is.
Now, Mr.
Nelson, do you have any personal recollection of the sale of this item? Absolutely.
You see, we don't have much call for volatile spirits.
So when this fella came in the store-- Just a second.
When-- When you say "this fella," to whom are you referring? Him.
The defendant.
Mr.
Hing.
All right.
Go ahead.
I was about to say, volatile spirits is a dangerous combustible.
So I asked him what he was gonna use it for.
When he said he wanted a paint thinner, I tried to recommend something safer, but he was kind of obstinate, you might say.
So I gave him what he wanted.
And what he wanted was volatile spirits? That's what he wanted.
Thank you, Mr.
Nelson.
Your witness.
No questions.
Call your next witness, Mr.
Burger.
Mr.
John Hilliard, please.
Uh, Mr.
Hilliard, you are the executor of the estate of the late Peter Baxter? I am.
During his lifetime, did you have any business relationship with the deceased? Well, yes.
As vice president and general manager of the bank, I handled all his funds there.
Uh, did you, under instructions from the deceased deliver $5,000 to the defendant, James Hing? Yes.
Do you know anything about a private conversation, or a series of private conversations, between the deceased and the defendant, James Hing? Objection, Your Honor.
Incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
Any conversation between decedent and defendant overheard by Mr.
Hilliard is not binding on the defendant, unless it is a part of the res gestae.
Your Honor the conversation I wish to get into the record occurred on the day of the fire, and is indeed, I believe, part of the res gestae.
Unless you can connect it more particularly, Mr.
Burger, I will sustain the objection.
Then if it please the court, I should like to withdraw this witness and call Edith Devoe to the stand in order to lay a more proper foundation.
Reserving, of course, the privilege of recalling this witness later.
Mr.
Mason? If my cross-examination is also deferred, I have no objection, Your Honor.
Call Miss Devoe to the stand.
The witness may stand down.
Miss Devoehow long were you employed as a nurse by the late Peter Baxter? Eight months.
Are you acquainted with the defendant, James Hing? Yes, I am.
Did he and the deceased ever have long, private conversations? Yes.
Well, did they have a long, private conversation on the day of the fire? Yes.
Would you please tell this court what happened prior to that particular conversation? Well, Hing came into Mr.
Baxter's room and told me he wanted to be alone with Mr.
Baxter.
All right.
Go ahead.
I did leave but one point, I returned.
I heard Hing say to Mr.
Baxter "All right.
We'll do it now.
" And then he saw that I was in the room, and he asked me to leave again.
So I left.
Wasn't Mr.
Baxter normally an aggressive, domineering sort of man? Yes.
That time, though, he seemed very submissive.
As if As if Hing had some strange kind of influence over him.
Objection! I'll stipulate that that last remark may be stricken from the record as being a conclusion of the witness.
Thank you, Miss Devoe.
Cross-examine, counselor.
Miss Devoe do you recall a visit I had with you at your apartment? Yes.
At that time, did you not tell me you knew of no private conversations between Peter Baxter and the defendant? I told you I didn't know of any private conversations that'd been overheard by any other member of the household.
Did you personally overhear one? No.
The door was closed.
So that you couldn't have overheard a thing? No.
Why did you listen? To find out if I was right.
I thought Hing had a mysterious influence over Mr.
Baxter.
But you didnotoverhear their conversation? No.
Then your impression that the defendant had some mysterious hold over the decedent still remains unverified? Yes.
Thank you, Miss Devoe.
No further questions.
Gordon T.
Roland.
CLERK: Mr.
Gordon T.
Roland to the stand.
Mr.
Roland, as attorney for the late Peter Baxter, among other services, you prepared his will.
Is that correct? I did.
And after his death, you entered that will for probate? Yes, sir.
Is the defendant, James Hing, a legatee under the terms of that will? He is.
BURGER: And what is the amount of his inheritance? ROLAND: More than $3-and-a-half million.
I see.
Uh, Mr.
Roland, there's been talk in the newspapers and rumors about a later will.
What do you know about any such will? Nothing.
There's also been talk about a mysterious envelope.
Do you know anything about an envelope or a letter connected in any way with the deceased? No.
I do not.
Thank you, Mr.
Roland.
That'll be all.
Your witness.
I have no questions of this witness.
Gentlemen I'll take this opportunity to recess for the lunch hour.
Court is adjourned till 2 p.
m.
( dramatic theme playing ) Mr.
Mason, you were right.
It was unwise for me to believe that this plan could not be upset.
I just don't believe Hing made up this story.
Paul find out who the insurance carriers are, and how much of a claim they paid on the fire damage.
On my way.
( slow, dramatic theme playing ) MASON: Your Honor, information of paramount importance has come to hand.
Before proceeding, I would like to recall a witness.
Mr.
Burger? Which witness? Mr.
John Hilliard.
No objection, Your Honor.
Call Mr.
John Hilliard to the stand.
Mr.
John Hilliard to the stand.
You're still under oath, Mr.
Hilliard.
Mr.
Hilliard, you've testified that you were the executor of Peter Baxter's estate? Yes.
I have here a memorandum from the Norwood Fire/Casualty, an insurance company.
They report that no claim has been made on behalf of the Baxter estate for fire damage.
That's right.
Why didn't you enter a claim? Well, the insurance had been cancelled two days before the fire.
Oh? Who canceled it? I did.
Acting on Mr.
Baxter's order, of course.
Did you ask him why he canceled the fire insurance? Yes.
And, as usual, he said I should just mind my own business and follow instructions.
Are you aware that it's a felony to set fire to one's own house and then claim insurance? Yes.
And since Peter Baxter did not want to commit a felony, he instructed you to cancel the fire insurance.
Well, I-- I don't know his reason, Mr.
Mason.
He didn't tell me.
I just followed instructions.
Mr.
Hilliard, a man is on trial for his life.
Now, we believe Peter Baxter left an envelope with a letter in it.
We know he didn't leave it with his attorney.
You are his executor.
You had a visit with him on the evening of the fire.
Now, he gave you that envelope, didn't he? Yes.
What's in it? I don't know.
Well, what were his instructions about it? Not to reveal its existence, and to keep it sealed for three months after his death.
MASON: And it still remains sealed? ROLAND: Yes.
There's still seven weeks left.
Where is the envelope? At the bank, in the vault.
I ask the court to order Mr.
Hilliard to produce and open this envelope.
Mr.
Burger? If it please the court Your Honor even if this envelope contains the explanation the defense is hoping for-- namely, a plot to pretend this murder happened --the state contends this very letter gives the defendant the opportunity and the motive to commit the murder, hoping to be protected by the explanation in the letter, and thus able to benefit from the will leaving him the decedent's entire fortune.
Mr.
Mason? Your Honor defense does not know exactly what is in that envelope.
However, it may contain a later will which contradicts the provisions of the present will.
If this is true the defendant's failure to inherit under a later will would leave the prosecution without a motive for murder.
We'd better examine that envelope, Mr.
Hilliard.
You will produce it in court tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.
m.
Your Honor, I have no further questions of the witness.
You may step down.
I was on duty at the desk when that gentleman came up and asked to see Dr.
Keene.
Let the record show that the witness was pointing to the defendant, James Hing.
Now, Miss Watson, how long was this after Dr.
Keene left his room? About ten minutes.
What did you tell the defendant? I told him Dr.
Keene was out to lunch, and I didn't know exactly when he'd be back.
And what did he do then? Well he said he'd wait for a while anyway.
And he did.
Later when I looked up, he was gone.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
Your witness, counselor.
Miss Watson, when you saw the defendant, was he carrying something? No.
Not that I could see.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
No further questions.
One moment.
Your Honor, I have one question on redirect.
Miss Watson, could you see boththe defendant's hands? No.
I only saw his left hand.
I never did see his right hand or the right side of his body.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
( sniffs ) Yes.
That's the odor.
Volatile spirits.
And I recognize that bottle.
It's the one I found in the closet of my room.
Had you ever seen the bottle before? No, sir.
Had you ever noticed the odor of volatile spirits in your room before? KEENE: Well, not before I, uh, left to take Miss Oakley to lunch.
So to the best of your knowledge, this bottle was planted in your room during the lunch hour? Yes, sir.
BURGER: Now, doctor ( puts bottle on table ) where were you on the night of February 1st? That's the night of the fire.
Well, Miss Oakley and I went to dinner, and then to a play.
And where did you get the tickets for that play? From the defendant.
When I called to take Miss Oakley to dinner that evening, he gave us the tickets, and said they were a gift from her grandfather, Mr.
Peter Baxter.
I think that'll be all, doctor.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Dr.
Keene how long were you gone from your room at the hospital? When I went to lunch? Oh, 20 minutes.
Possibly 30.
Now, you left your door open.
Is that customary? Oh, yes.
I have nothing there really worth stealing.
So anyone could have entered your room during that 20- to 30-minute period? Well, in a manner of speaking.
There-- There are nurses and doctors and orderlies around all the time.
Doctor, as a resident physician, do you have access to the hospital's drug supply? Access? Well, no, not indiscriminately.
Uh, narcotics and anodynes have to be signed for.
Where would you sign for them? With the nurse on duty at the dispensary.
It's been established that Peter Baxter refused to take his normal sedative on the night of the fire.
Yet the autopsy surgeon testified he was under heavy sedation at the time.
Could the heavy sedation itself have caused his death? Oh, of course.
If it was heavy enough.
Could react just like poison.
Now, doctor, you testified that on the night in question you went to dinner and the theater with Winifred Oakley? That's right.
Did you miss the first act of the play? Wha-- ( sighs ) How did you know? It's customary to check on the whereabouts of principals at the time of a murder.
Well, when, uh Winifred and I arrived at the theater, there was a message for me.
It's part of a doctor's life, Mr.
Mason.
He can be called out of a theater or off the golf course.
I had to visit a patient.
Where? At the hospital.
Now, to get to the hospital from the theater would it be out of your way to stop at the Baxter home? No.
Did you stop at the Baxter home? I certainly did not.
Now, tell me, doctor did you take any narcotics or sedatives from the hospital recently, signed for or not? I didn't take any narcotics or sedatives out of the hospital period.
Thank you, doctor.
No further questions.
I call Kenneth Baxter.
CLERK: Mr.
Kenneth Baxter, please.
( man coughs ) BURGER: Mr.
Baxter, on the night of February 1st-- that's the night of the fire --did you see the defendant, James Hing? KENNETH: I did.
BURGER: About what time? KENNETH: About 6:00.
He said my grandfather had two tickets for a play that night for Stuart and myself.
BURGER: When you say "Stuart," you're referring to your cousin, Stuart Baxter? KENNETH: That's right.
BURGER: Did your grandfather do things like this very often? No.
I was rather surprised.
But you did accept the tickets from the defendant and go to the theater? I did.
I think that's all, Mr.
Baxter.
Thank you very much.
Your witness.
Mr.
Baxter why were you surprised at getting the tickets from your grandfather? Well, we weren't exactly bosom pals.
He disapproved of you? At times.
What times? I guess whenever he thought about me.
That's why I wasn't surprised when I heard he was going to test us, and there might be a later will.
Have you seen any such will? No, I haven't.
Now, on the night in question, did you and Stuart Baxter leave the house together? KENNETH: I left the house about 6:30.
I met Stuart after dinner at the theater.
After the theater, did you and Stuart return to the house together? Yes, sir.
It was about 12:00.
The fire had already been put out.
Thank you.
Oh, uh by the way.
Did you ask nurse Devoe to join you that evening? Um, no.
Why should I? No reason.
Your Honor at this point, I would like to recall nurse Watson.
Miss Watson is a sometime custodian of the dispensary at the hospital.
If it please the court, this is all part of the defendant's case.
Counsel for the defense shouldn't be allowed to prove his case by cross-examination alone.
Nor should he be allowed to prove it by recalling witnesses for cross-examination.
I think we can take advantage of the relative informality of this hearing to pursue the evidence when it leads us on.
The witness may step down.
Miss Watson, please.
Then it's rather a routine matter for a doctor to request and sign for narcotics? Yes, sir.
How difficult would it be for someone not connected with the hospital to get to the dispensary and into the narcotics? Practically impossible.
There's someone on duty all the time.
As a matter of fact, anyonenotin uniform would stick out like a sore thumb in the dispensary or the doctors' quarters.
In other words, anyonewitha uniform would have escaped your notice? That's not true, Mr.
Mason.
It all depends on the Go on, Miss Watson.
Oh, that's funny.
It just came back to me.
What do you mean? The cap I saw.
What cap? WellI'd never seen one like it before.
I remember when I saw it, I thought to myself, "Hey.
That's kind of "cute.
I wonder where it's from.
" Don't all nurses wear caps? Yes, sir.
But each school of nursing has its own distinctive cap.
And a nurse graduating from an institution will wear its cap for the rest of her professional life no matter where she may work.
I see.
And this was a strange cap? Yes, sir.
I was gonna ask the nurse who was wearing it where it was from.
Why didn't you? Before I had a chance, she turned a corner and disappeared.
Well, what corner was this? Leading to the doctors' quarters.
When did all this take place? The same day the defendant, Mr.
Hing, came up and asked to see Dr.
Keene.
Do you recall the time? Around noon.
I ask you now to look around this courtroom and see if you can identify this nurse.
Yes, sir.
Ihavelooked around.
There she is.
MASON: Let the record show the witness is pointing to a previous witness named Edith Devoe.
Thank you, Miss Watson.
That's all.
Mr.
Burger? BURGER: No questions.
Miss Devoe, will you step forward, please? The witness may step down.
( people clear throats ) JUDGE: I've anticipated you, Mr.
Mason.
Do you have some questions to ask Miss Devoe? Thank you.
Yes, I do, Your Honor.
JUDGE: You may take the stand.
You're still under oath, Miss Devoe.
( man clears throat ) Now, Miss Devoe did you enter the hospital and deposit a bottle of volatile spirits in Dr.
Keene's room in order to throw suspicion on him? Iwasin the hospital.
You kept a supply of sedatives in the Baxter home? Yes.
You left the Baxter home around 7:00.
Did you return later? Not that night.
Then perhaps you worked with an accomplice.
Someone for whom a motive existed.
Because there was no motive foryouto kill Peter Baxter, was there? Who put you up to it, Miss Devoe? Would you have us believe you killed Peter Baxter for no reason at all? I didn't kill Mr.
Baxter.
You prepared the sedative.
But I didn't kill him.
Then who did? Stuart.
Stuart Baxter.
Well, she's lying! It's no use, Stu.
He came back to the house at theater-intermission time, Mr.
Mason.
He gave the old man the extra sedative.
Not me.
We checked on Stuart Baxter.
He did not leave the theater during intermission.
Now, Miss Devoe you've shifted all over the place, trying to plant suspicion anywhere and everywhere.
On Stuart Baxter, Dr.
Keene, James Hing.
( panicky ): That's not so.
The afternoon I spoke with you, I told you about a test will and the plot between Hing and Peter Baxter.
Now, you were the only one I told about this so-called test.
Yet, when Kenneth Baxter appeared on the stand, he knew all about it.
How, Miss Devoe? How would he know about it if you hadn't told him? It'sKennethBaxter you've been in love with, is it not? And it was Kenneth Baxter who left the theater that night during intermission.
( crying ): That's not so! It wasn't Kenneth.
I had nothing to do with him! ( sobbing ) ( tense theme playing ) It's all right, Edie.
Don't worry.
I knew I'd be caught.
I knew it from the beginning.
I never got away with anything in my whole life.
All right, thank you, Hamilton.
Goodbye.
Mr.
Burger have any more information? Mm-hm.
Miss Devoe admitted that she tricked Peter Baxter into taking a sedative in his chocolate, even though he had before refused it.
So at the time he was supposed to be calling his doctor friend for the substitute corpse, actually, he was sound asleep.
Well, then that's when Kenneth came back from the theater and gave him the overdose that killed him.
But if Mr.
Kenneth overheard everything Mr.
Baxter and I were-- MASON: Not everything.
He only heard that Mr.
Baxter was changing his will.
He knew nothing about the test.
A man knows so little.
Sometimes a man knows more than he admits.
Why did you say you didnotknow what was in the envelope? I was not at liberty to do so, Mr.
Mason.
In other words, Peter Baxter didn't want his heirs to know that if anyone contested the will, they'd be cut off.
Yes.
It was a test of loyalty.
What about your own loyalty? Didn't you go to the hospital planning to tell Winifred the truth? I did not, Mr.
Mason.
I went to tell Dr.
Keene not to force Miss Winifred to join Stuart and Kenneth in contesting the will.
But you couldn't tell him? No, I couldn't.
So you were loyal to Peter Baxter too, Mr.
Hing.
All along, all the way.
At the end, he was like a sick eagle.
He was strong and fierce all his life.
And yet, through this whole thing I felt like I was protecting him.
Strange, isn't it? ( cat meowing ) Goodbye, Mr.
Mason.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( noirish jazz theme playing )