MAN: Who's in there?
Stop!
[GUNSHOT]
[HORSE NEIGHS]
At this rate, we should be back in town by 5.
I can hardly wait, Perry.
[CAR HORN HONKS]
Fasten your seat belt, Della.
The car behind us is trying to break the sound barrier.
[CAR PASSING, HORN HONKING]
Perry, he's gonna hit that old car up ahead.
[TYRES SQUEALING]
It's turning over.
[CRASHING]
- Is she all right, Perry? - Seems just shaken up.
Gracias, señor.
You're not hurt?
[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]
Watch her, Della. I better check to see if the gas tank's leaking.
[CAR APPROACHING]
How do you feel?
[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
Someone is hurt?
I've been asking the same question, but in the wrong language.
[CONVERSING IN SPANISH]
- I will take her to a doctor. - In case she wants a witness.
MAN: You are an attorney?
I'm not looking for business, I just wanna be helpful.
MAN: Gracias, señor.
Wait.
Her package.
[ENGINE STARTS]
You'd do fine south of the border.
Aren't these ostrich feathers?
Somebody's wardrobe?
Somebody with the initials L.F.
These and the feathers are somebody's complete wardrobe.
A fan dancer, maybe.
Probably in El Centro or Calexico.
The old lady must have been taking the fans to her.
Then why'd she run off without them?
Wouldn't want Miss L.F. to catch pneumonia, would we?
[DELLA CHUCKLES]
I came about Mr. Mason's ad.
GERTIE: Whom should I say is calling, sir?
CALLENDER: John Callender.
A Mr. John Callender in the reception room about the fan dancer.
All right.
Go right through Miss Street's office, sir.
After you finish that, call Jackson.
I want him to deliver these papers and get the sup--
Mason.
Mr. Callender, won't you sit down?
My secretary, Miss Street.
- Howdy. - Hello.
May I ask how you discovered my identity?
I used only a box number.
I told the newspaper the people who placed the ad
wanted it run another week.
I paid in cash, got a receipt. Your name and address was on it.
That's going to a lot of trouble, isn't it?
Well, I figured I'd be dealing with a valley rancher like myself.
Someone who was up in arms,
what with broken fence and trampled crops.
I wanted to see what was what and who was who.
I'm afraid you left me, Mr. Callender, back there with the broken fence.
I'm willing to pay big.
I'm sure you are, but it happens the property I'm holding
belongs to a fan dancer, not to a rancher.
Oh, um...
I forgot.
"Box 9052, this will introduce John Callender.
He's authorised to receive--"
"He's authorised to receive from the finder
the horse I lost a few days ago,
said horse being described as a palomino quarter horse,
15 hands high, white right-hind foot, blazed face, white mane and tail.
Signed Lois Fenton, stage name Cherie Chi Chi,
Cooker Apartments, North Highland, Hollywood."
What I found scarcely answers that description.
Mister, I raised that horse, I ought to know its description.
Good afternoon, Mr. Callender.
I'll write you a cheque for $500. That'll cover your time and expenses.
It isn't a question of money.
Then you're deliberately trying to hold me up,
expecting me to boost my offer.
Well, I'm not about to do it.
I'll give you till morning to surrender that horse.
I'm in Room 511 at the Richmell Hotel.
You wanna play hard with me, you picked yourself the wrong Patrick.
[DOOR SLAMS]
[DOOR OPENING]
It's the bullet wound. That's it, isn't it?
That's where the description differs.
Where is the bullet wound?
On the horse.
You're not even close.
[DOOR SLAMS]
That seems to be a horse on Mr. John Callender.
Or on us.
- Well, I never. - Never what, Gertie?
Young chap, he said his name was Sheldon, Arthur Sheldon.
Here.
"Room 510, Richmell Hotel."
Five-ten. Across the hall from Mr. Callender.
He insisted that I make you come out to talk to him before you--
And I quote, "Made a deal."
And then he saw Mr. Callender start to leave. Such a fidgety person.
He handed me that paper and flew out.
Didn't he say what he wanted?
A-- A horse.
What about a horse?
Well, he said it belonged to the real Lois Fenton.
The real Lois Fenton?
And that you absolutely mustn't return it to Callender.
You don't suppose there was something more
in the back of that wreck than just those fans, do you?
Say, a small horse, maybe?
Call the American Guild of Variety Artists.
See if you can find out where Lois Fenton,
or Cherie Chi Chi, is dancing tonight.
[SEXY MUSIC PLAYING]
Definitely not Mexican.
- Wrong kind of eyes. - I can see you've been studying them.
Waiter.
For the dancer.
[APPLAUSE]
You're Perry Mason?
- Miss Street, my secretary. - Hello.
- Won't you sit down? - Thank you.
Did you see Mr. Callender this morning?
Well, he saw me.
I asked him to pick up the horse. Did he?
Thank you, Harry.
Are you going to return it or not?
- I haven't seen your horse. - Is this some kind of a trick?
Are you sure the drink's okay, Miss Cherie?
I'll let you know, Harry.
Simple enough, I did not find a horse. Yours or anyone else's.
But you found something. That ad. You found something.
You found two fans.
Two ostrich-plume fans with the initials L.F. on them
and a pair of high-heel slippers.
[LAUGHING]
[CHUCKLES]
And all the time I thought it was the horse.
Well, that'll be all, Harry. Drink's fine.
- Where are they? - In my car.
They're my favourites. Such beautiful balance.
I'll send Harry out with you to pick them up.
And thank you very much, Mr. Mason.
You haven't said a word since she kissed you.
Didn't I say good night?
[LAUGHING]
I'll drop you home, then I plan to talk to that impatient young man
who came to see us today.
- Arthur Sheldon? - The Richmell Hotel,
- isn't that what Gertie said? - Right.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Who is it?
You'd better get in there, Lois.
I won't open until I know who it is.
I've been waiting here all day hoping you'd call.
I-- Well, I guess I was beginning to wonder
if you were gonna sell out to John Callender.
That why you camped across the hall from him?
You told my receptionist that there was a real Lois Fenton.
Apparently, there must also be an imitation.
SHELDON: The real one is the one I'm concerned about.
She needs help. Will you represent her?
- What help? - She and her brother
need the most important criminal lawyer in California. You, Mr. Mason.
- I haven't got much money, but-- - I asked you what kind of help.
Protection from Callender. And Lois has got to find that horse.
- Why protection from Callender? - Callender was--
Is her husband.
- She just left him and-- - No, no, no, I'm sorry.
I'm not asking you to handle a divorce case.
- This is blackmail. - Oh?
Callender's trying to force Lois to go back to him.
He's threatening her with some forged cheques.
Claims they were forged by Jasper Fenton. That's Lois' brother.
One night last week, someone rode into the ranch and tried to steal them.
The watchman fired a shot. He swears he hit the horse.
Lois' horse?
If Callender finds that horse before we do,
he'll use it to claim that Lois was involved in the robbery.
It'll give him another lever to force her to come back to him.
You wouldn't like that, would you, Mr. Sheldon?
I'm not ashamed of my feeling for Lois.
Callender has mistreated her shamefully.
May I get a glass of water?
SHELDON: Oh, the water's right there behind you.
Forget it.
- But, Mr. Mason-- - Look, if you want me to help you,
you'll have to do what I tell you. Check out of here right now.
Bring the real Lois Fenton with you to my office tomorrow morning.
[PHONE RINGING]
- Hello. - Paul, this is Perry.
How fast can you put a shadow in the Richmell Hotel?
If I'm lucky, maybe 15 minutes.
We'll compromise on ten. He's to cover Room 511.
And here's a tip.
Room 510's being vacated by a young fellow named Sheldon.
Move one of your agents in there and have another one trail Sheldon.
And, Paul, I have one other job for you.
- I want you to find a horse. - A horse? Perry, for the love of Pete.
MASON: A 7-year-old palomino quarter horse.
Why don't you go to bed like everyone else?
Okay. It's a 7-year-old palomino quarter horse.
- Whatever that means. - The horse may have a bullet wound.
Heard anything from lmperial County on a missing horse, Paul?
I have three men and a trailer standing by.
Oh, you were all wet about Sheldon checking out right away.
What do you mean?
He didn't check out for more than an hour after you called.
My man was hiding right in that mop closet,
hating every second and waiting for Sheldon to leave.
Callender's not gonna like you waking him up.
He did a land-office business in there till 3:00 this morning.
People coming and going all the time.
Take it easy. He had a rough night.
[DOORKNOB RATTLING]
You were right, Paul. He had the roughest kind of a night.
Keep an eye on the corridor.
Frank Faulkner, Harvey Julian, Mr. Mason.
- How you doing? - Hi.
I'm gonna have to report this.
Perry, I've got a licence at stake.
[WHEELS ROLLING]
Across the hall.
Five-eleven.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
[QUIETLY] It's room service.
He's got a tray with a pot of coffee on it.
He's trying the knob.
He's going in.
[FOOTSTEPS]
We're boxed. Within seconds, the desk will notify Homicide.
We can't run out without sticking our necks in a noose.
And we can't stay without being discovered.
On account of a house dick.
Yeah, they'll find out we paid him 20 bucks to let you hide in the mop closet.
That ties us right in.
- Madison 5-1190. - That's headquarters.
Report your murder. Just don't mention my name.
Lieutenant Tragg, Homicide, please.
Not in? This is Paul Drake, Drake Detective Agency.
I'm reporting a murder. Room 511, Richmell Hotel.
Victim's a John Callender.
I have men covering the room, and just now--
Report it, the law requires.
You've done that, you don't have to gossip with them.
- Would somebody wise us up? - You were the one
- who came on last night? - Check. Harvey came on at 5.
In case one of us had to do a shadow job on the guy in 511.
- When did you get here? - Oh, 2:16, maybe 2:17 this morning.
We're fighting time, just give me the highlights.
Well, I settled down in the broom closet at 2:20, 2:21.
Sheldon came tearing out of 511 and ducked in here.
The elevator stopped at 2:23, and you should have seen the dish that got out.
- She sort of drifted down the hallway. - Like a dancer?
No, she was carrying a violin case, but she didn't look like a violin player.
Anyway, she goes into 511.
I saw her leaving ten minutes later at 2:32, still carrying the violin case.
- What else? - Well, a character.
Somewhere in his mid-20s, but a character, you know?
He gets out of the elevator and comes rushing down the hallway.
He pops in 511 and pops right out again.
What do you mean, right in and right out?
- How long did he stay? - Ten seconds. I timed him.
And he was wearing an overcoat, all buttoned up.
- In midsummer? - Yes, sir. Buttoned up all the way.
[FOOTSTEPS]
[QUIETLY] The police.
It's Tragg. He just went in.
Well, I gotta check in with him. You know how he feels about us.
- I'm not through with Faulkner. - Well, I'll try and stall Tragg.
But if he finds out you're anywhere in this hotel, brother.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Oh, don't tell me.
Good morning, lieutenant. Holcomb.
- This one of your bodies? - I tried to reach you as soon I found it.
Check headquarters. Find out what time Drake called, and if he did.
It just happens we had him under surveillance.
Does it also just happens
that you've got the man who killed him under surveillance too?
I'm only trying to help, lieutenant.
Oh, yes, I must always remind myself of that.
Are your men still here?
- Yes. - Where?
- Room 510. - Oh. I wanna see them.
[WHISPERING]
Oh.
Well, that was very thoughtful of you, Mr. Drake. You did call.
You asked for me.
[CHUCKLES]
I'm very complimented.
- This a Perry Mason job? - I have other clients than Mason.
Oh, yes, but they never turn up the bodies that you two do.
I've asked you a question.
For the record.
Well, Mr. Mason does have some interest in the case, yes.
Where's Mason right this second?
- What do you mean? - Is he in the hotel?
Honestly don't know.
I'm gonna find out, Drake, do you hear?
And if he's withholding any information, facts, evidence, anything,
I'm gonna throw the book at him, and you too.
Allow me, lieutenant.
[SMACKS LIPS]
Step right in, lieutenant.
Wait for me.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
[SIGHS]
MASON: It's Mason.
Miss Fenton left these in your wastebasket at the Richmell Hotel.
When I knocked at your door, you hid her in the bathroom. Why?
How did you find me here?
You answer my questions. I asked you why.
Don't misunderstand, Mr. Mason. She just arrived.
She knew Callender was forcing her brother
to keep a 2:00 appointment with him. She hoped to stop it.
- Did she? - Well, that's it, I don't know.
After you left, I told Lois to go back downstairs.
I'd come right down and check out.
But when I got downstairs, she'd gone.
Well, I didn't know what to do then. I went back upstairs and waited.
I know, till 3 this morning.
You checked?
You were also seen leaving Callender's room at 2:21.
I-- Well, I thought Lois might have been discovered in the hotel.
You know, Callender. Maybe she was in trouble.
I went across and knocked at his door.
Was he alive?
Why shouldn't he be?
Japanese sword in his chest.
Very bad for breathing.
You mean somebody murdered him?
The police are checking.
They'll discover you had the room across the hall.
They already know a girl described as Lois Fenton
called on Callender at 2:23 just two minutes after you left him.
But you don't think Lois killed him, or that I did?
It's not a policy of mine, Mr. Sheldon, to encourage criminals to disappear.
Or to suggest they escape.
[BELL RINGING]
Early this morning you rented a room.
I'd like to find out if you rented another one about the same time.
Who are you?
I happen to know almost the exact time the room was rented
to Arthur Sheldon, Room 5.
I rented that room myself, mister, at 3 yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday afternoon?
Anyway, what's it to you? You got a badge entitles you?
I'm a lawyer, I'm trying to find out something for a client.
Well, I don't stand around checking on people, I got better to do.
- Could he have had a visitor, a girl? - I didn't see her.
And you didn't rent a room to a good-looking girl, 22, 23?
Look, I'm trying to help her. Mr. Sheldon too.
Well, one thing could have happened.
You see, when I turn in, I put a sign on the counter
that says what rooms are to rent, and the price is $3.
And anybody can come in and register, put their money in the slot,
go over to the board and take the key and go in and sleep.
- But this morning, did that happen? - No, nobody registered.
But there was $3 under the counter and the key was missing.
I wanna see that room.
- Oh, the party may still be in it. - All the better.
Ehh.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
[DOOR UNLOCKING]
Young? The old ones always sleep all over the bed.
It's only the young ones leave it like that.
Or someone with a clear conscience.
Hmm.
Dark brown.
She was a dainty one.
I'll just straighten this up. Nobody will never know it's been slept in.
WOMAN: Them look like feathers.
Okay.
- Hello, Mr. Mason. - How are you, Marge?
Make it my usual, Helen.
Lieutenant Tragg's got a man on me.
- Is he watching you now? - Yes.
Don't look outside. Far as he knows, this is just a casual cup of coffee.
I've been frantic trying to reach you. Paul Drake's men found the horse.
Thank you, Helen.
- Where? - A little ranch down in Calexico.
They're bringing him in now.
You know, Paul said Tragg's out to get you this time.
Both Faulkner and the hotel detective identified the woman
who called on Callender at 2:23 as Lois Fenton.
It's Tragg's theory that she killed him and that you're harbouring her.
- She hasn't called in? - Mm-mm.
If she does, tell her to meet me at the Vine Record Shop in a booth.
Meanwhile, I might take the pressure off her if I throw Tragg a bone.
A bone?
I'm gonna lead him to one of the two Lois Fentons.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Come in.
[DOOR OPENS]
I always like my friends to see as much of me as possible.
But you're not here to visit, are you, Mr. Mason?
Would you say that I'm the visiting type?
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
I think you could be.
Right now, I'm the question-box type.
For example, why did you visit Callender last night?
I took him the fans, and to report that you hadn't really found the horse.
Oh, he kept insisting that you had, and that the fans were just a--
- Heh. A cover-up. - How was his health when you left?
Oh, he was flexing all sorts of muscles.
- Can you prove that? - A maid saw me leaving.
- What time? - Just before 2.
- You went back at 2:23? - Back where?
To Callender's room.
A man named Meeker, the house detective, claims you did.
I left at 2.
- Harry was waiting in the lobby. - Harry will swear to that, of course.
Now, what do you think?
[GIGGLING]
Tell me,
why did you assume the identity of Lois Fenton
as a dancer in the first place?
Oh, you are a question box, aren't you?
Well, I have nothing to hide, as you can see.
One thing, we look alike. She married John Callender,
so I asked her, could I take over her act, and she said okay.
So I copied her.
Her walk, style, even the clothes I wear on the street.
And now my name's Lois Fenton too.
What happened when she left her husband?
Didn't she want her identity back, or her act?
Mr. Callender offered me money.
A lot of money, if I'd help him get a horse back.
He said the finder might get mixed up and bring it to me
instead of to his wife.
That's why I wrote that letter he showed you.
You realise, of course, there's going to be a lot of notoriety about all this.
Oh, I'm terrified, Mr. Mason.
[CHUCKLES]
I photograph well.
Real well.
[GIGGLING]
[RECORD PLAYING]
Excuse me, my wife arrived yet? She has dark brown hair--
A young lady has been waiting in one of our demonstration booths
- for quite a while, sir. - Oh, fine, thank you, I see her.
- I'll try this record, if I may. - Of course.
- Miss Fenton? - Mr. Mason.
Sit down, please.
You were in Arthur Sheldon's room when I went to the hotel last night?
Yes.
- Tell me what you did when you left. - I--
Well, I had a sudden crazy impulse.
I went across the hall and into my husband's room.
I told him if he tried to make trouble for my brother Jasper, I'd get back at him.
- What did he do? - He laughed at me.
I went to the door, and I was so afraid of him, Mr. Mason.
I started to run, and, well, the elevator looked so far away,
I ran down the stairs.
All right.
Now, I want an answer to something. The absolute truth.
- Did you return to the hotel? - No.
You did not call on your husband again at 23 minutes past 2?
- Oh, no. - All right.
Now I wanna know about that-- That horse.
Starlight?
Well, when I decided to leave my husband,
I threw all my personal things in the back of my car
and I drove to Brawley.
I took an engagement at the Valley Club.
Jasper rode Starlight into Brawley for me and put him in a stable.
And while you were working, he was stolen.
Well, anyone could have walked in and led him out.
Did you have any trouble with this other girl, this Cherie Chi Chi,
when she heard you were dancing again?
When I married John,
I gave her a letter authorising her to use my name and bookings
until I wanted it again.
We both signed it.
As witness, my husband kept the only copy.
He said that would protect me.
But she knew I didn't have a copy and that he wouldn't lift a finger to help me.
He wanted me to flop.
Well, I can't let you go back to wherever you're staying.
We can't afford to make it seem like you're running away.
You have to be somewhere that's logically right for--
Near your horse.
There's a motel down the road from the Edendale Stables. I'll get my car.
Is Starlight all right?
Outside of a scratch and a bullet in his saddle,
he's in a better spot than we are, Miss Fenton.
Feed him old hay and a little grain, please.
Not too much grain.
I don't want him to get too hot. Just enough to keep him on his mettle.
- Saddle in the trailer? - Yup.
Okay, take good care of the horse, put the saddle in my car.
Don't worry.
By now, Tragg will certainly know we found Starlight.
They'll trace him right here.
- You think they'll arrest me? - I'm certain of it.
- What shall I do? - Tell me the truth.
But I have.
What about that $3 room in the boarding house on East Lagmoor?
Don't get embarrassed, just talk.
Arthur said--
Well, he said I mustn't tell anybody about that.
Not even you.
Sheldon left the hotel and went to that boarding house.
But he'd registered there earlier that day,
long before I asked him to leave the Richmell. Now, why?
Well, Arthur got the room for my brother Jasper.
Hotels are full.
We intended that Jasper stay there, but he never showed up,
so Arthur stayed there himself.
Why did you go there?
When Arthur--
When he arrived at the boarding house,
he found something in his room.
Something terrible.
- He called me. - About what?
One of my fans, soaked in blood.
Well, I took that other room and I tried to wash out the stains.
- Then I threw the fan away. - Where?
Somewhere it'll never be found.
No such place.
Just put it in the car, please.
Did Arthur explain how the blood got on the fan?
- No. - Or how it got into his room?
- No. - Do you know what happens
to little girls who lie to their lawyers?
In murder cases, they wind up in death row at San Quentin.
If they happen to be nice-looking, they might have a fifty-fifty chance
of making the women's prison at Tehachapi.
Cooped up in a cell with no makeup, the drab routine--
- Stop. - I'm trying to get the truth.
You have it.
Yes, I have had it. We're going to the police.
STABLEMAN: Mr. Mason.
Will you sign this for boarding the horse?
Why is it every time a man's been victimized by a woman,
every other woman he knows starts beaming with delight?
Could be that mentally, they're putting him on their sucker list.
Well, like it or not, Lois Fenton is still our client.
How much evidence has the DA got, Paul?
Open and shut. Witnesses identify her as the woman
who went into Callender's room at 23 minutes past 2.
And she had motive to burn. She was protecting her brother Jasper.
He's admitted to the police that he stole her horse
and made the burglary attempt at Callender's ranch.
And the police have the saddle with the bullet in it.
Could Jasper have killed Callender?
Perry, he was only in there ten seconds.
How long does it take to stick a sword into a man?
Well, more than that just to find and pick up a weapon.
- It's known he didn't bring it in. - How's it known?
Because Callender brought it from the ranch.
The bellboy who checked him in remembered he had it when he arrived.
Did Tragg find Cherie Chi Chi?
Find her? They arrested her. I don't know what she told Tragg,
but I do know the person the witnesses identified was Lois Fenton
and not Cherie Chi Chi. She was released.
It's gonna be a rough one, Paul.
Yeah, particularly since Lois Fenton's got to be guilty.
Well, I'm glad you're not going to be on the jury.
Will counsel stipulate for the jury is present and the defendant is in court?
- So stipulated, Your Honour. - So stipulated, Your Honour.
Mr. Mason, at the close of the morning session,
the district attorney had concluded his opening statement.
Does the defence wish to make its opening at this time?
No, Your Honour, we will reserve our opening statement
until we start putting on our defence.
Very well. The district attorney will call his first witness.
Dr. Jackson Lambert.
Now, doctor, did you find any foreign substances
in the body of John Callender?
That is, near the wound or within the wall of the chest?
- I did. - What did you find?
A feather, sufficient in quantity to be recognised
as portions of an ostrich plume.
BURGER: Now, Mr. Meeker, you were acting in your capacity
as house detective at the Richmell Hotel?
Yes, sir. And at 20 minutes after 2 in the morning,
this young woman appeared in the lobby of the hotel.
When you say "this young woman," who do you mean exactly?
The young woman sitting over there.
BURGER: You're pointing at the defendant, Miss Lois Fenton.
- Is that right? MEEKER: Yes, sir. That's right.
Are you absolutely positive the woman you saw in the hotel lobby
was this defendant?
Yes, sir, I am.
You identified her at the police station?
Well, she was marched into a shadow box with six other women.
- And you identified her? - Yes, sir.
You're positive there could be no mistake?
Positive.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
You have stated you next saw the defendant
when she walked into the shadow box at police headquarters.
Who was present with you at that time?
Sergeant Holcomb, another detective and Sam Meeker.
And, oh, yes, another police officer who keeps the records.
Would you describe the shadow box for us, please?
Well, it's a stage, all lit up.
Real bright, there's a curtain of material that hangs down the front
and you can see through it.
You can sit in a dark room and see inside the box,
but the people inside the box can't see you.
There are lines on the back so you can tell how tall the people are.
And you saw the defendant in that box?
- Yes, sir. - You heard her voice?
Well, not the first time I saw her in the shadow box.
You mean there was more than one occasion?
Yes, sir.
Why was she returned to the shadow box?
Some question in Sergeant Holcomb's mind about the way she acted.
- I object. - The objection is sustained.
But Sergeant Holcomb himself told me--
Makes no difference. That is merely hearsay.
Well, did you yourself notice something?
Well, when she first entered the shadow box, she didn't talk very clear.
She was sulky and kind of non-cooperative
and kept her head down.
The sergeant didn't like her appearance,
and there was an argument between him and another officer,
so he had her brought back the second time.
How long an interval passed between the first and second time?
Oh, 20 minutes, maybe longer.
It has now reached the hour of 5, the hour of the evening adjournment.
I'm going to remand the defendant.
The jury will be in the custody of the sheriff.
Court is adjourned till 10:00 tomorrow morning.
[GAVEL BANGS]
I'd like to talk to my client for a moment, if you please.
What about this shadow box business?
- Were you put in there twice? - Yes.
But they're wrong when they say I was sulky and non-cooperative.
- I wasn't. - Frank Faulkner testified you were.
But he's working for the district attorney.
No, he isn't. Faulkner's employed by Paul Drake.
Burger just had him subpoenaed to identify you.
But I wasn't sulky.
While you were there, did you see any sign of this other girl?
I think I did.
But you never believe me.
If that were true, I wouldn't be defending you.
[DOOR OPENS]
I told Perry you had an urgent message for him, Frank.
FRANK: Mr. Mason.
I don't want you to think with my appearance in court
and being a witness for the prosecution that I'd sold you out.
I appreciate your position, Faulkner.
Well, maybe I can make it up.
- You know where Cherie Chi Chi is? - Oh, I'd like to get her on the stand.
- What good would that do, Perry? - If I can find her, you'll see.
Well, the police have her. She's in custody, and willingly.
- Anyone see you come in here? - I made sure I wasn't spotted.
I felt I owed you something.
As far as I'm concerned, Faulkner, you're completely paid up.
Your Honour, before we proceed with the trial of this case,
there's a matter I wish to call to attention.
It concerns a witness. A potential witness for the defence, Irene Kilby.
Stage name, Cherie Chi Chi.
I fail to see the necessity of making such a statement at this time
and in front of the jury, Mr. Mason.
The reason I'm making the statement, Your Honour,
is that I've just discovered why we've been unable to find this witness.
She's being held incommunicado by the police.
I resent that, Your Honour.
The law specifically gives the prosecution the power
to hold material witnesses.
This is a material witness for the prosecution.
What is she a witness to?
[CHUCKLES]
To certain things she'll disclose when she takes the stand.
May I ask the district attorney if he will promise
to put this witness on the stand?
I don't have to promise any such thing.
Your Honour, it's apparent this woman is not a witness.
Now, wait a minute. What do you propose to prove by her?
- Maybe I'll stipulate it. - I propose to prove
she's the one whom the witnesses have identified as being the defendant.
The woman who was in the Richmell Hotel
at 20 minutes past 2 on the morning of the 17th.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
All right. You asked for it, I'll bring her into court.
Thank you.
Your Honour, I think if I have 15 minutes
I can satisfy counsel's request.
Meanwhile, I can save some time while we're waiting
by putting on another witness.
Jasper Fenton.
Will you take the stand and be sworn, Mr. Fenton?
You've already admitted that you entered the deceased's room at 2:44.
Now, when you found him dead,
you ran out without notifying anybody, is that right?
Well, the next day I went to the police.
Of your own accord, and gave them a written statement.
- Is that right? - Yes, sir.
And at this time, you did not know
that your sister was accused of the crime, did you?
[BANGS TABLE]
That question is leading and suggestive.
It goes to the motivation and the interest of the witness,
if the court please.
The question is leading, but I think I'll overrule the objection.
I think the jury is entitled to the facts.
- You may answer. - No.
At that time, I did not know my sister was involved.
Get your hand off my arm, I can walk.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Your Honour, the witness, Irene Kilby, is now in court.
Brought here at the suggestion, in fact the demand, of Perry Mason.
Would you step forward, Miss Kilby?
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Will the defendant please stand?
JUDGE: Miss Fenton, over there, please. The two of you together.
- Any objection, Mr. Mason? - None, Your Honour.
This is indeed a strange situation.
There's no great facial resemblance, but as far as figures are concerned,
these two women are almost identical.
If the court please, it is my understanding
that the district attorney is going to put this young woman
on the witness stand.
BURGER: I've produced her, that's sufficient.
Either you call this witness to the stand,
or explain to the grievance committee why you were holding her
where I couldn't find her, claiming she was a material witness.
Very well. Mr. Fenton, step down. Miss Kilby, take the stand.
Now then, directing your attention to the afternoon of September 17th,
you were in your apartment?
- I was. - What happened to you there?
Objection. Incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
And not proper cross-examination.
It would seem to be highly incompetent, counsellor.
Your Honour, this witness was arrested,
placed in the shadow box and identified absolutely
by the witnesses Sam Meeker and Frank Faulkner
as the woman they had seen in the Richmell Hotel
at 20 minutes past 2 on the morning of September 17th.
That's not true. You can't prove that.
JUDGE: I don't understand.
This woman was arrested as Lois Fenton.
She was identified by the witnesses.
A few minutes after that identification,
the police arrested the real Lois Fenton.
So Sergeant Holcomb asked the witnesses to see the girl again
under better circumstances.
He then sent Lois Fenton into the shadow box,
knowing the witnesses would re-identify her.
Later, he put the defendant, Lois Fenton,
back in the shadow box for the second time.
But at that time, there was no one else on the other side of the screen.
This was a deliberate ruse to prevent me from learning the truth.
That's not so.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
BURGER: Holcomb, come here.
How did you know?
The witnesses said you were sulky the first time they saw you.
You told me you weren't.
Assuming that you were telling the truth and they were too,
then it must have been somebody else, not you,
that they identified the first time.
The court would like to know whether or not this witness,
Irene Kilby, was put in the shadow box at the time the witness Sam Meeker
and the witness Frank Faulkner were there to make an identification.
Of course, Your Honour, she can't tell you.
She doesn't know who was on the other side of the screen.
Well, the police know.
Yes, Your Honour. If I can have a brief recess,
I'll endeavour to find out the true facts.
The court will take a recess for ten minutes.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Miss Kilby, if I could prove
that when you went to see John Callender, he was already dead,
would you change your testimony about being in the hotel
at 2:23 that morning?
Mr. Court Reporter, read me that question.
"Would you change your testimony
about being in the hotel at 2:23 that morning?"
Do you understand that question, Miss Kilby?
I--
Yes.
JUDGE: Can you answer it?
- Yes. - You mean that's your answer?
Yes.
All right then, let's get at the truth.
You did not go to call on John Callender
at around 2:00, did you?
- No. - But you did learn
that a maid had seen Lois Fenton leave Callender's room at 2,
and that he was then still alive.
So you decided to claim you were the woman
seen leaving Callender's room, isn't that right?
- Yes. - At 2:23,
Miss Kilby arrived at Callender's room after calling from the lobby.
Testimony shows that at 2:21, Arthur Sheldon left Callender's room
and crossed the hall to his own, his manner suggesting
he knew John Callender was already dead.
Are you now claiming that Arthur Sheldon killed John Callender?
I'm not claiming a thing. I'm trying to get the defendant acquitted.
As far as the murder case is concerned,
you are quite at liberty to solve it.
That is the end of my cross-examination of this witness.
Any redirect examination?
No further questions, Your Honour.
JUDGE: Very well.
This witness has admitted making false testimony,
and I now order her into custody to await such action as may be taken.
Mr. Burger, on the basis of Miss Kilby's testimony,
it appears your case against the defendant has collapsed.
Unless you can produce evidence to refute that testimony,
I shall have to order the jury to return a verdict of acquittal
for the defendant, Lois Fenton.
You know, Paul, the trouble with lawyers,
there are some times we become too sceptical.
All along, Lois Fenton was telling the absolute truth.
Until I realised that, why, things just weren't very clear to me.
Well, did Sheldon kill Callender?
No, Callender was killed while he was showing the fan
to a certain person.
He wanted to prove that I hadn't found the horse, just a fan.
Once he found the horse, he meant to send a certain person to jail
for forging cheques.
Then it was Jasper, Jasper Fenton.
Well, we know that Sheldon rented a room for him,
and Jasper had a 2:00 appointment with Callender.
Then when Callender showed it to him,
Jasper picked up the sword and pushed it through the open fan
- that Callender held in front of him. - Well, why did he go back at 2:44?
In the excitement, he left the fan in Callender's room.
Later, he realised it would incriminate his sister.
The only decent thing he did was to go back and get it.
What about Arthur Sheldon?
Sheldon skipped out so the police would blame him instead of Lois.
And as for Cherie Chi Chi,
she spent ten minutes in a dead man's room looking for this.
The agreement.
It was in the handle of the Japanese sword.
That's why Callender brought it with him.
[SEXY MUSIC PLAYING]
[APPLAUSE]
For you, Mr. Mason.
"Just so you'll remember a grateful client.
Lois, the real Cherie Chi Chi."
Well, you won't be needing me again.
From now on, you'll be well covered.
[LAUGHS]