The High Window by Raymond Chandler

Oldtuberadio

When rare gold coin is stolen from her collection, Mrs Murdoch hires private eye Philip Marlowe to find it. The tough matriarch is convinced about the identity of the thief, but Marlowe's own enquiries lead him elsewhere. He's soon caught in the crossfire of a family at war with itself.  Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko Produced by Claire Grove  This series brings all the Philip Marlowe novels to Radio 4's Saturday Play. The Big Sleep 1939, Farewell My Lovely 1940, The High Window 1942, The Lady in the Lake 1943, The Little Sister 1949 and The Long Goodbye 1953, and two lesser known novels, Playback 1958 and Poodle Springs, unfinished at the time of his death in 1959.  Toby Stephens is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002) and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (2006). In autumn 2010 Toby starred as a detective in Vexed, a three-part comedic television series for BBC Two. He also made his debut at the National Theatre as George Danton in Danton's Death.  Credits Role Contributor Philip Marlowe Toby Stephens Mrs Murdoch Judy Parfitt Merle Davis Jessica Raine Leslie Murdoch Patrick Kennedy Detective Breeze Joe Montana Alex Nash Stuart Milligan Linda Conquest Susie Riddell Elisha Morningstar Peter Polycarpou Apartment Manager Gerard McDermott Lou Vannier Carl Prekopp Lois Nash Alex Tregear George Philips James Lailey Mr Shaw Sean Baker Delmar Hench Alun Raglan John Simon Bubb Author Raymond Chandler Abridger Robin Brooks Director Sasha Yevtushenko Producer Claire Grove   Do you enjoy the variety on Oldtuberadio? Like, Share and Subscribe to be notified of our new shows #radio #crime #thriller #drama To Support this channel please visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oldtuberadio https://ko-fi.com/oldtuberadio98 https://www.patreon.com/oldtuberadio https://locals.com/Oldtuberadio

Transcript

00:00:00THE HIGH WINDOW

00:00:30Toby Robbins and Tucker Maguire

00:00:32The High Window

00:00:35California, 1941

00:00:41The house was on Dresden Avenue in Pasadena

00:00:52A big, solid, cool-looking house

00:00:55with half an acre or so of fine green lawn

00:00:58drifting down to the street.

00:01:00At the door on a concrete block

00:01:02was a little painted negro

00:01:03in white riding breeches

00:01:05and a green jacket and a red cap.

00:01:07He was holding a whip

00:01:08and there was an iron hitching ring

00:01:10in the block at his feet.

00:01:11He looked a little sad

00:01:12as if he'd been waiting there a long time

00:01:14and was getting discouraged.

00:01:16So I went over and patted his head

00:01:18while I was waiting for somebody

00:01:19to come to the door.

00:01:21A middle-aged maid let me in.

00:01:23It hurt her to have me in her clean house.

00:01:25She took me to a room furnished as an office.

00:01:30Can I help you?

00:01:31I'm Miss Davis, Mrs. Murdoch's secretary.

00:01:34I'm Philip Marlowe

00:01:35calling on Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdoch

00:01:38by appointment.

00:01:40Oh, oh yeah.

00:01:41Um, oh, first of all, Mr. Marlowe...

00:01:45Oh, oh, sit down, please.

00:01:47Thanks.

00:01:48Um, first of all,

00:01:50Mrs. Murdoch wanted me to ask you

00:01:51for a few references.

00:01:53References?

00:01:54Certainly. References.

00:01:55Does that surprise you?

00:01:57You mean she hired me as a private detective

00:01:59without knowing anything about me?

00:02:00She got your name

00:02:01from the manager of a branch

00:02:02of the California Security Bank,

00:02:04but he doesn't know you personally.

00:02:07Get your pencil ready.

00:02:10Uh, a vice president of the same bank,

00:02:12George S. Leake.

00:02:13Then State Senator Houston Oglethorpe.

00:02:16Uh, he may be in Sacramento

00:02:17or he may be at his office

00:02:18in the State Building in Los Angeles.

00:02:21Sidney Dreyfus Jr. of Dreyfus, Turner & Swain,

00:02:24attorneys in the Title Insurance Building.

00:02:26Got that?

00:02:26Yeah.

00:02:27Oliver Fry of the Fry-Krantz Corporation

00:02:29over on East 9th.

00:02:30Then, if you would like a couple of cops,

00:02:33Bernard Alls of the DA's staff

00:02:35and Detective Lieutenant Carl Randell

00:02:37of the Central Homicide Bureau.

00:02:40You think maybe that would be enough?

00:02:43Don't laugh at me.

00:02:44I'm only doing what I'm told.

00:02:46Better not call the last two

00:02:47unless you know what the job is.

00:02:49I'm not laughing at you.

00:02:51Hot, isn't it?

00:02:53It's not hot for Pasadena.

00:02:56Excuse me.

00:02:56While she was telephoning,

00:03:00hither and yon,

00:03:01I looked her over.

00:03:02Her blondish hair was drawn back

00:03:04so tightly over her narrow head

00:03:06that it almost lost the effect

00:03:07of being hair at all.

00:03:09Her chin looked unstable.

00:03:11The whole face had a sort of

00:03:13off-key neurotic charm

00:03:14that only needed some clever makeup

00:03:16to be striking.

00:03:17She didn't wear any.

00:03:19When she finished her call,

00:03:20she asked me to wait and went out.

00:03:22I went round her desk

00:03:24and looked in the drawers.

00:03:26It wasn't any of my business.

00:03:27I was just curious.

00:03:29It wasn't any of my business

00:03:30that she had a small

00:03:31Colt automatic in the drawer.

00:03:33I shut the drawer

00:03:34and waited to be taken

00:03:36into the presence of Mrs. Murdoch.

00:03:38Mr. Marlow,

00:03:39would you come this way?

00:03:42Mrs. Murdoch reclined

00:03:44on a chaise lounge

00:03:45with a glass of port in her hand

00:03:47and the bottle handy at her elbow.

00:03:49She had a lot of face and chin.

00:03:51She had pewter-colored hair

00:03:54set in a ruthless permanent,

00:03:57a hard beak,

00:03:58and large, moist eyes

00:03:59with the sympathetic expression

00:04:01of wet stones.

00:04:03There was lace in her throat,

00:04:04but it was the kind of throat

00:04:05that would have looked better

00:04:06in a football sweater.

00:04:08She let me stand

00:04:09while she finished her glass

00:04:11and filled it again.

00:04:12Sit down, Mr. Marlow.

00:04:22Please do not light that cigarette.

00:04:24I'm asthmatic.

00:04:26I've never had any dealings

00:04:28with private detectives.

00:04:30And what are your charges?

00:04:32To do what, Mrs. Murdoch?

00:04:34It's a very confidential matter, naturally.

00:04:36I charge $25 a day

00:04:39and, of course, expenses.

00:04:41It seems high.

00:04:42No, it isn't.

00:04:43I'm just one man

00:04:45and I work at just one case at a time.

00:04:47I take risks,

00:04:48sometimes quite big risks,

00:04:50and I don't work all the time.

00:04:51Of course, you can get

00:04:52detective work done at any price.

00:04:54And what is the nature

00:04:55of your expenses?

00:04:57Little things that come up

00:04:58here and there.

00:04:59You never know.

00:05:00As you prefer to know.

00:05:02You'll have a chance to object.

00:05:03And how much retainer

00:05:05would you expect?

00:05:06A hundred dollars

00:05:07would hold me.

00:05:08I should hope it would.

00:05:09From people in your position,

00:05:11Mrs. Murdoch,

00:05:11I don't necessarily

00:05:12have to have a retainer.

00:05:15Mr. Marlow,

00:05:16I'm a strong-minded woman,

00:05:18but don't let me scare you.

00:05:20Because if you can be scared by me,

00:05:22you won't be much use to me.

00:05:26My asthma.

00:05:29I drink this wine

00:05:31as a medicine.

00:05:33That's why I'm not

00:05:36offering you any.

00:05:38Sure.

00:05:40Now,

00:05:41here is the situation.

00:05:44Something of considerable value

00:05:46has been stolen from me.

00:05:47I want it back,

00:05:49but I don't want

00:05:50anybody arrested.

00:05:52The thief happens to be

00:05:53a member of my family

00:05:54by marriage.

00:05:55My daughter-in-law.

00:05:57A charming girl.

00:05:59Tough as an oak board.

00:06:01I have a damn fool

00:06:03of a son,

00:06:04but I'm very fond of Leslie.

00:06:07About a year ago,

00:06:09he made an idiotic marriage

00:06:11without my consent.

00:06:12This was foolish of him

00:06:13because he is quite incapable

00:06:15of earning a living,

00:06:16and he has no money

00:06:17except what I give him,

00:06:19and I am not generous

00:06:21with money.

00:06:21Who is the lady?

00:06:24A nightclub singer

00:06:26called,

00:06:27appropriately enough,

00:06:29Linda Conquest.

00:06:31They lived here.

00:06:34We didn't quarrel

00:06:34because I don't allow

00:06:36people to quarrel

00:06:36with me

00:06:37and my own house.

00:06:39I pay their expenses.

00:06:41No doubt

00:06:42the lady found life

00:06:43rather dull.

00:06:44No doubt

00:06:45she found my son dull.

00:06:46I find Leslie Dahl myself.

00:06:50At any rate,

00:06:51she moved out abruptly

00:06:52a week ago

00:06:52without a forwarding address

00:06:54or a goodbye.

00:06:55And you say

00:06:56she took something?

00:06:58A coin.

00:06:59A rare gold coin

00:07:02called a brasher doubloon.

00:07:06The pride

00:07:06of my late husband's collection.

00:07:09It is a mint specimen

00:07:10said to be worth

00:07:12over $10,000.

00:07:15But pretty hard to sell.

00:07:16I didn't miss the coin

00:07:18until yesterday.

00:07:19I should not have missed it then

00:07:21as I never go nearer

00:07:22the collection.

00:07:24It's that a man called

00:07:25Morningstar

00:07:27called up.

00:07:29Said he was a dealer

00:07:30and was the coin

00:07:31for sale.

00:07:33I was curious.

00:07:35Why?

00:07:36If the man was a dealer

00:07:37of any repute,

00:07:38he would know

00:07:39that the coin

00:07:40was not for sale.

00:07:41My husband provided

00:07:42in his will

00:07:43that no part of the collection

00:07:45might be removed

00:07:45from this house.

00:07:47I told Mr. Morningstar

00:07:49as much

00:07:49and hung up.

00:07:51Then I went upstairs

00:07:52and found the coin

00:07:54had gone

00:07:55from its locked case.

00:07:56Just what do you want done?

00:07:58In the first place,

00:07:59I want the coin back.

00:08:01In the second place,

00:08:02I want an uncontested

00:08:03divorce for my son

00:08:04and I don't intend

00:08:05to buy it.

00:08:07I dare say you know

00:08:08how these things

00:08:09are arranged.

00:08:10I may have heard.

00:08:12I'll have to talk

00:08:13to your son.

00:08:14Leslie knows nothing.

00:08:16Not even that the

00:08:16doubloon has been stolen.

00:08:18I don't want him to know.

00:08:20When the time comes,

00:08:22I'll handle him.

00:08:23He will do exactly

00:08:24what I want him to.

00:08:26Oh, he hasn't always.

00:08:27His marriage

00:08:28was momentary impulse.

00:08:30It takes three days

00:08:31to have that kind of impulse

00:08:32in California,

00:08:33Mrs. Murdoch.

00:08:34Young man,

00:08:35do you want this job

00:08:36or don't you?

00:08:37If I'm told the facts,

00:08:38I'm allowed to handle

00:08:39the case as I see fit.

00:08:41This is a delicate

00:08:42family matter.

00:08:43It must be handled

00:08:44with delicacy.

00:08:45If you hire me,

00:08:46you'll get all the

00:08:47delicacy I have.

00:08:48But I take it you don't

00:08:49want your daughter-in-law

00:08:50framed.

00:08:52I'm not delicate

00:08:52enough for that.

00:08:54You'll do,

00:08:55Mr. Marlow.

00:08:56Well, I'll need a photo

00:08:57of the lady

00:08:58and some information.

00:08:59In the desk drawer.

00:09:04I know almost

00:09:05nothing about Linda.

00:09:06She once shared

00:09:07an apartment

00:09:08with another entertainer.

00:09:09Lois Magic.

00:09:11They worked together

00:09:12at a place called

00:09:13the Idle Valley Club,

00:09:16owned by a man

00:09:17named Mornie,

00:09:18I believe.

00:09:20Leslie knows it

00:09:21far too well.

00:09:23I will ask him

00:09:23if he knows

00:09:24the address

00:09:25of this Lois Magic.

00:09:27This lady

00:09:28is quite a looker.

00:09:30One thing,

00:09:31if I find that the lady

00:09:33did not steal the coin,

00:09:35that ends this investigation

00:09:36as far as I'm concerned.

00:09:38She stole it all right

00:09:39and I don't intend

00:09:40to let her get away

00:09:41with it.

00:09:42Paste that in your hat,

00:09:43young man.

00:09:44And I hope you are

00:09:46even half as rough

00:09:47as you like to act

00:09:49because these nightclub girls

00:09:51are apt to have

00:09:52some very nasty friends.

00:09:54Oh, I like them nasty.

00:09:56The nasty ones

00:09:57have simple minds.

00:09:58Well, I'll report to you

00:10:02when there is anything

00:10:02to report,

00:10:03Mrs. Murdoch.

00:10:05You don't like me

00:10:07very much,

00:10:07do you?

00:10:09Does anybody?

00:10:10Does anybody?

00:10:21Hey, Miss Davis,

00:10:23cheer you up.

00:10:24You shouldn't feel

00:10:24sorry for yourself.

00:10:26You should feel

00:10:26sorry for her.

00:10:28She thinks she's tough

00:10:29and she's trying

00:10:29to break her back,

00:10:30trying to live up to it.

00:10:32There's no need to cry.

00:10:33Oh, don't touch me, please.

00:10:35I never let men touch me.

00:10:38And don't say those things

00:10:40about Mrs. Murdoch.

00:10:41I only want to do

00:10:44my best for her.

00:10:46Yeah.

00:10:47What do you know

00:10:48about a Miss Lois magic?

00:10:53She only came here once

00:10:55with Mr. Vanier.

00:10:57What does she look like?

00:10:59Blonde.

00:11:00Very, uh...

00:11:02Very appealing.

00:11:04You mean sexy?

00:11:06Well, in a nice,

00:11:07well-bred sort of way,

00:11:09if you know what I mean.

00:11:10I know what you mean,

00:11:11but I never got anywhere

00:11:12with it.

00:11:13I can believe that.

00:11:15Oh.

00:11:16Know where Miss Magic lives?

00:11:18No.

00:11:19Mr. Marlowe,

00:11:20I wouldn't carry

00:11:21that tough guy manner

00:11:22too far if I were you.

00:11:24And I can't answer

00:11:26any more questions.

00:11:28My position here

00:11:28is very confidential.

00:11:31I'm not tough.

00:11:32Just virile.

00:11:34Perhaps I don't like

00:11:35virile men.

00:11:36You're a screwball

00:11:39if ever I met one.

00:11:42As I went out,

00:11:43I patted the little negro

00:11:44on the head again.

00:11:46Brother,

00:11:47it's even worse

00:11:48than I expected.

00:11:52When I left there,

00:11:53I was followed

00:11:54by a small sand-colored

00:11:55coupe with a fat man

00:11:57wearing a pork pie-type

00:11:58straw hat

00:11:59with a tropical print band.

00:12:01I got rid of him

00:12:02and went on down

00:12:03to my two rooms

00:12:04in the gang of the building.

00:12:07The reception room

00:12:08was empty of customers.

00:12:10It was empty of everything

00:12:11but the smell of dust.

00:12:12It had been for too long.

00:12:14I went into my office.

00:12:16Three hard chairs,

00:12:18a swivel chair,

00:12:19desk,

00:12:19five filing cases,

00:12:21three of them full of nothing,

00:12:23a calendar,

00:12:24a framed license,

00:12:25phone,

00:12:25hat rack,

00:12:26carpet,

00:12:26and two open windows

00:12:27with net curtains

00:12:28that puckered in and out

00:12:29like the lips

00:12:30of a toothless old man

00:12:31sleeping.

00:12:32The same stuff

00:12:33I had last year

00:12:34and the year before that.

00:12:36Not beautiful,

00:12:38but better than a tent

00:12:39on the beach.

00:12:41Come in.

00:12:43You're Marlowe?

00:12:45Yeah.

00:12:46I'm a little disappointed.

00:12:48I rather expected

00:12:48something with dirty fingernails.

00:12:50Come on in

00:12:51and you could be witty

00:12:52sitting down.

00:12:54All set?

00:12:55Pulse and respiration normal?

00:12:56You wouldn't like

00:12:57a cold towel

00:12:57on your head or anything?

00:12:58Private detective.

00:13:00A shifty business

00:13:01one gathers,

00:13:01keyhole peeping,

00:13:02raking up scandal,

00:13:03that sort of thing.

00:13:04You here on business

00:13:05or just slumming?

00:13:06My name is Leslie Murdoch.

00:13:08I understand my mother

00:13:09has employed you

00:13:10on a job of some sort.

00:13:11Has she?

00:13:12Yes.

00:13:13A little worm told me.

00:13:15Often trodden on

00:13:16but still somehow surviving,

00:13:17like myself.

00:13:19You were hired

00:13:20to find my wife,

00:13:20aren't you?

00:13:23Marlowe,

00:13:24I'll try very hard

00:13:25but I don't think

00:13:26I'm going to like you.

00:13:27I'm screaming

00:13:28with rage and pain.

00:13:29Why should my mother

00:13:30want Linda found?

00:13:31Why should she pay?

00:13:32My mother hates

00:13:33to spend money.

00:13:34She thinks money

00:13:35is part of her skin.

00:13:36Who said she did?

00:13:37But you implied

00:13:37Merle said...

00:13:40Merle talks out of turn.

00:13:43You wouldn't tell Mother.

00:13:45Anyhow,

00:13:45Mother couldn't do

00:13:46without Merle.

00:13:47She has to have

00:13:47somebody to bully.

00:13:49She might yell at her

00:13:49or even slap her face

00:13:51but she couldn't do

00:13:51without her.

00:13:53Look, Marlowe,

00:13:54please be reasonable

00:13:54and give me an idea

00:13:55what it's all about.

00:13:56Would a couple of hundred

00:13:58make any...

00:13:59What?

00:13:59I ought to bop you.

00:14:01If a man in my line

00:14:02of work has handed a job,

00:14:03does he go around

00:14:04answering questions

00:14:05about it to anyone

00:14:05that gets curious?

00:14:06For a man in your line

00:14:07of work to turn down

00:14:08two hundred dollars,

00:14:09there must be a lot

00:14:10of electricity in the air.

00:14:12Listen, Marlowe,

00:14:13I love my wife.

00:14:14I know she doesn't love me.

00:14:15She hasn't really had

00:14:16a lot of fun

00:14:16being married to me.

00:14:17You're just too modest.

00:14:19Maybe it's not, Linda.

00:14:21Maybe it's something else.

00:14:22Maybe it's Mourney.

00:14:25Maybe it is.

00:14:26I didn't think

00:14:27Mother knew about that.

00:14:29Did he call her?

00:14:29He promised not to.

00:14:31Just how much

00:14:33are you into him for?

00:14:35I owe him twelve thousand.

00:14:36What kind of a lad

00:14:37is Mourney?

00:14:38Tough?

00:14:38I suppose he is.

00:14:41He used to be in pictures,

00:14:42screen heavy.

00:14:44Linda just sang

00:14:44at his Idle Valley club,

00:14:46you know.

00:14:47And if you are looking for her,

00:14:48you'll have a hard time

00:14:49finding her.

00:14:50She's not buried

00:14:51in the backyard, I hope.

00:14:52Will this show you

00:14:53I'm serious?

00:14:55You'd better get

00:14:56a bigger gun, Leslie.

00:14:57That thing wouldn't

00:14:58shoot bees.

00:14:59Get this straight.

00:15:00If anybody tries

00:15:00to push Linda around,

00:15:01you'll have to push

00:15:02me around first.

00:15:03Tuck the gun

00:15:04back in your garter.

00:15:05It's a waste of time

00:15:06talking to you.

00:15:07All you do is wisecrack.

00:15:09I'm going.

00:15:09Well, I'll see you out.

00:15:11Afraid I'll steal

00:15:12your antiques?

00:15:13I don't think

00:15:13you are worried

00:15:14about your wife.

00:15:15I think you know

00:15:16where she is.

00:15:17She didn't run away

00:15:18from you.

00:15:18She ran away

00:15:19from your mother.

00:15:20Perhaps she'll get

00:15:21a job and make

00:15:22enough money

00:15:23to support you.

00:15:24Bastard!

00:15:27If you want

00:15:28to hit somebody,

00:15:28do yourself a favor

00:15:29and pick a midget.

00:15:30An old midget.

00:15:31Let me go.

00:15:32How come your old man

00:15:33didn't leave you

00:15:34any money?

00:15:34If it's any of your

00:15:35rotten business,

00:15:37Jasper Murdoch

00:15:37was not my father.

00:15:39My father was a man

00:15:40named Horace Bright

00:15:41who lost all his money

00:15:42in the crash

00:15:43and jumped out

00:15:44of his office window.

00:15:45Now, if you're satisfied,

00:15:46I'll be on my way.

00:15:48I'm doing you a favor.

00:15:50A gun toter

00:15:51oughtn't to insult

00:15:52so easily.

00:15:53You better ditch it.

00:15:54I'm sorry I took

00:15:55a swing at you.

00:15:57Probably wouldn't have

00:15:58hurt much

00:15:58if it had connected.

00:15:59Oh, that's all right.

00:16:05I was on my way

00:16:06to see Lois Magic

00:16:07and I was being

00:16:08followed again

00:16:09by the straw hat

00:16:10with the print band.

00:16:11This time,

00:16:12he was wearing

00:16:13dark glasses.

00:16:14That made him invisible.

00:16:16He wasn't hard

00:16:16to shake off.

00:16:18A friend of mine

00:16:19at the Chronicle

00:16:19had done a little research.

00:16:21Lois Magic

00:16:22had not long ago

00:16:23become Mrs. Alex Morney

00:16:25and he had bought

00:16:26a house up in Bel Air,

00:16:27a neighborhood

00:16:28in which nobody walked.

00:16:29Not even the postman.

00:16:31The house was modest enough,

00:16:32not more than 14 rooms

00:16:34and probably only

00:16:35one swimming pool.

00:16:41At the side of the house,

00:16:43a chauffeur,

00:16:44who looked like

00:16:44an overgrown jockey,

00:16:46was washing a Cadillac.

00:16:47According to him,

00:16:48nobody was home.

00:16:49I showed him my card.

00:16:51Ah, private dick, huh?

00:16:54That's a little

00:16:54old expense account.

00:16:56Fat,

00:16:56with inactivity.

00:16:58Well,

00:16:58for five bucks,

00:16:59I could start thinking.

00:17:00I wouldn't want

00:17:00to make it that tough

00:17:01for you.

00:17:02All I want to know

00:17:03is whether Mrs. Morney

00:17:03is home.

00:17:04Does that rate

00:17:05more than a buck?

00:17:06You ain't working

00:17:07for Morney,

00:17:07are you?

00:17:08Sure.

00:17:09You're a liar.

00:17:10Sure.

00:17:11Two bucks.

00:17:12You have them.

00:17:15Ah,

00:17:15she's in the backyard

00:17:16with a friend.

00:17:17A nice friend

00:17:18named Avaniye.

00:17:19I mean,

00:17:19you get a friend

00:17:20that don't work

00:17:21and a husband

00:17:21that works,

00:17:22you're all set,

00:17:23see?

00:17:23You'll be all set

00:17:24in an irrigation ditch

00:17:25one of these days.

00:17:26Not me, Jack.

00:17:27I'm wise.

00:17:28I know how to play them.

00:17:29I've monkeyed around

00:17:30these kind of people

00:17:30all my life.

00:17:32Ah,

00:17:32don't worry about lover boy.

00:17:34Watch out for the poodle.

00:17:36Name of Heathcliff.

00:17:37Wuthering Heights?

00:17:39Talk English, Jack.

00:17:40Vanier was the Latin lover type.

00:17:47He and Lois Magic

00:17:48lay out by the pool

00:17:49with the scotch bottle

00:17:50and the ice bucket handy.

00:17:52From 30 feet away,

00:17:53she looked like a lot of class.

00:17:55From 10 feet away,

00:17:56she looked like something

00:17:56made up to be seen

00:17:57from 30 feet away.

00:18:01Relax, Heathcliff.

00:18:02Hey,

00:18:03go find Kathy.

00:18:04Heathcliff!

00:18:05Heathcliff!

00:18:06Come here at once.

00:18:07He likes the man.

00:18:10I like what I see, too.

00:18:13Who the hell are you?

00:18:14What do you mean

00:18:15busting in here?

00:18:16Weren't you told

00:18:17there was no one in?

00:18:17Yeah,

00:18:18but I didn't believe it.

00:18:19Are you, uh,

00:18:20Mr. Morney?

00:18:21No,

00:18:22I'm, uh,

00:18:23just a friend.

00:18:23Sit down and rest

00:18:24your sex appeal, Lou.

00:18:27Who are you, handsome?

00:18:28Philip Marlowe.

00:18:29I'm a private detective.

00:18:31Big, aren't you?

00:18:33Too much for you

00:18:34to handle, I guess, Lou.

00:18:35All right, Marlowe.

00:18:36Get it over with,

00:18:37whatever it is.

00:18:38Do I talk to her

00:18:39or do I talk to you

00:18:40and have you

00:18:40put it in English, huh?

00:18:43What do you want?

00:18:44You, uh,

00:18:45shared an apartment once

00:18:46with a girl called

00:18:47Linda Conquest.

00:18:48I'm looking for her.

00:18:49I don't think I've seen her

00:18:50in six months.

00:18:51She got married.

00:18:55What do you want to know

00:18:56for a big boy?

00:18:57Just a private inquiry.

00:18:58About what?

00:18:59A confidential matter.

00:19:01And that gives you

00:19:01the right to bust in here?

00:19:03So, uh,

00:19:04you don't know

00:19:04where she is, Mrs. Morney?

00:19:06She just said so.

00:19:07She said

00:19:07she didn't think

00:19:08she'd seen her.

00:19:09Who's looking for her?

00:19:10Her folks.

00:19:11Guess again.

00:19:12She doesn't have any folks.

00:19:14Well, you must know her

00:19:14pretty well if you know that.

00:19:15You got your answer.

00:19:17You're not wanted here.

00:19:19I think you can tell me

00:19:20where she is,

00:19:21Mrs. Morney,

00:19:21if you want to.

00:19:22How are you going to

00:19:24make me want to?

00:19:26With all these people around,

00:19:27how can I?

00:19:30Well, that's a thought.

00:19:31Get out, mug,

00:19:33while you can still walk.

00:19:35Where's your refinement?

00:19:36And don't tell me

00:19:37you wear a gun

00:19:38under your Cesar Romero outfit,

00:19:39or have you got an itch?

00:19:40Don't write me off

00:19:41too quick.

00:19:43I'd plug you

00:19:44as soon as I'd

00:19:44strike a match,

00:19:46and I'd fix it afterwards.

00:19:47Don't get so hostile, darling.

00:19:49Tell him to go.

00:19:50It would take you a week

00:19:51to get a gat out

00:19:52from under that shirt

00:19:53if you have one.

00:19:55I'll come back

00:19:55when you're ready.

00:19:57So long, Heathcliff.

00:19:58When I stopped off

00:20:02with the office

00:20:03on my way downtown

00:20:04to see Mr. Morningstar,

00:20:05the coin dealer,

00:20:07Straw Hat started

00:20:08tailing me again.

00:20:09So I went into a hotel

00:20:11and bought some cigarettes

00:20:12I didn't need

00:20:13and sat down in the lobby.

00:20:15He was right behind me.

00:20:17He was young

00:20:18and pink and plump.

00:20:20He sat down

00:20:20and gave the lobby

00:20:21the benefit of his eagle eye.

00:20:23So I wandered over

00:20:25and sat beside him.

00:20:26Hi.

00:20:30Yeah?

00:20:32Have I seen you

00:20:34somewhere before?

00:20:35Only over in Pasadena

00:20:37this morning

00:20:37and now this afternoon.

00:20:40Oh.

00:20:41I guess I must be lousy.

00:20:44Boy, you stink.

00:20:46Maybe it's the hat.

00:20:48It's a pretty tough dollar

00:20:50in this town.

00:20:51You ruin yourself

00:20:52with taxi fares

00:20:53or if you use your own car

00:20:54you have to stay too close.

00:20:55You don't have to climb

00:20:57into the guy's pocket.

00:20:59Did you want something with me?

00:21:01I figured to find out

00:21:02if you were smart enough

00:21:04to be worth talking to.

00:21:05I'm very smart.

00:21:07It would be a shame

00:21:07not to talk to me.

00:21:09That's my card.

00:21:11George Anson Phillips,

00:21:13confidential investigator.

00:21:16I used to be a deputy

00:21:17up at Ventura.

00:21:18I knew you

00:21:19when you were working

00:21:19on the Gregson case

00:21:20six years ago.

00:21:22Remember?

00:21:23No.

00:21:24Oh.

00:21:25Well,

00:21:26when I saw the guy

00:21:27go into your office

00:21:28I figured he had hired you.

00:21:30Which guy?

00:21:30Leslie Murdoch.

00:21:32I'm working for his wife.

00:21:34I figured we might

00:21:35pool our resources,

00:21:37maybe make a deal.

00:21:39Divorce?

00:21:40So she says.

00:21:42But I wonder.

00:21:44I don't like it.

00:21:45Can we talk?

00:21:46No, I have an appointment now.

00:21:48Come to my apartment after.

00:21:49I'll write it down.

00:21:51It's Court Street

00:21:53on Bunker Hill.

00:21:54Sorry, I haven't been

00:21:55in the chips lately.

00:21:57Listen.

00:21:59A very tall guy

00:22:00has been tailing me.

00:22:03Not now, though.

00:22:05Anything to do with you?

00:22:07No.

00:22:08Just to make sure.

00:22:10Your client,

00:22:11she's a tall blonde

00:22:12with careless eyes, huh?

00:22:14I wouldn't call them careless.

00:22:17And just between the two of us

00:22:19this divorce sub

00:22:20is a lot of hooey.

00:22:21It's something else, isn't it?

00:22:23Something I don't like more

00:22:25every minute I think about it.

00:22:27Here.

00:22:29Don't wait around

00:22:30if I'm out.

00:22:31This is the key to my place.

00:22:33What time will you be there?

00:22:35About 4.30.

00:22:37You sure you want

00:22:38to give me this key?

00:22:39Why not?

00:22:40We're in the same racket.

00:22:42Yeah.

00:22:43So we are.

00:22:46The Belfont building

00:22:47where Morningstar

00:22:48had his office

00:22:49had only one elevator working.

00:22:51In it sat an old man

00:22:53on a piece of burlap

00:22:54folded on top

00:22:55of a wooden stool.

00:22:56He looked as if

00:22:57he had been sitting there

00:22:58since the Civil War

00:22:59and had come out

00:23:00of that badly.

00:23:02Okay, Pop.

00:23:03I hear in New York

00:23:05they got elevators

00:23:06that just whiz

00:23:08do 20 floors

00:23:10at a time.

00:23:11That's New York.

00:23:13Ah, to hell with New York.

00:23:14I like it here.

00:23:15Must take a good man

00:23:18to run them fast babies.

00:23:20All those cuties do

00:23:21is push buttons.

00:23:23If I take a Model T job

00:23:25like this

00:23:25takes a man to run it.

00:23:27Yeah.

00:23:32Morningstar.

00:23:33At the back.

00:23:34Thanks for your help, Pop.

00:23:36Keep breathing.

00:23:36What can I do for you,

00:23:48Mr. Merleau?

00:23:49Tell me about

00:23:49the Brasher doubloon,

00:23:51Mr. Morningstar.

00:23:52It's an interesting coin.

00:23:53Among the most valuable

00:23:55of early American coins

00:23:57is gold,

00:23:58about the size

00:23:59of a half dollar.

00:24:00Made for the state

00:24:01of New York

00:24:01in 1787.

00:24:03It was not minted.

00:24:04There were no mints

00:24:06till 1793,

00:24:07so it was pressure molded

00:24:09by a private goldsmith

00:24:10named Ephraim Brasher,

00:24:12or Brashear.

00:24:13What's the pressure

00:24:15molding process?

00:24:16Well, the two halves

00:24:17of the mold

00:24:18were engraved in steel,

00:24:19mounted in lead,

00:24:20and a gold blank

00:24:21pressed between them.

00:24:23Slow process.

00:24:24And not exact.

00:24:25Always slight variations.

00:24:27So it would be safe

00:24:28to say,

00:24:28by modern methods

00:24:30of microscopic identification,

00:24:32no two coins

00:24:33would be identical.

00:24:35How many of these coins

00:24:36are there?

00:24:36Nobody knows.

00:24:37Perhaps a thousand.

00:24:39But very few

00:24:40in mint condition.

00:24:42They're the valuable ones.

00:24:45How valuable?

00:24:46Handled by a reputable dealer

00:24:48with a history of the coin,

00:24:49$10,000.

00:24:51And without history?

00:24:52Rare coins do turn up

00:24:54in odd places,

00:24:55but not often,

00:24:55with the coin you mentioned,

00:24:57the implication of theft

00:24:59would be strong.

00:25:01That's $5, please.

00:25:03Huh?

00:25:04Well, don't be absurd,

00:25:05Mr. Marlowe.

00:25:06Everything I've told you

00:25:07is available

00:25:07in the public library.

00:25:09Now you've taken up my time

00:25:10relating it to you.

00:25:11Then that's $5.

00:25:14Okay, five bucks.

00:25:16There you are.

00:25:18Now, Mr. Morningstar,

00:25:20let's talk about

00:25:22the brasher doubloon

00:25:23that somebody tried

00:25:24to sell you.

00:25:25Oh?

00:25:27Did somebody?

00:25:29And why would they

00:25:31want to do that?

00:25:32They needed the money.

00:25:34They knew your office

00:25:35was in a shabby dump

00:25:36at the end of a corridor,

00:25:38and you were an elderly man

00:25:39who would probably not

00:25:40make any false moves

00:25:41out of regard

00:25:42for your health.

00:25:44And you assume

00:25:46all this

00:25:47from the mere fact

00:25:48that I telephoned

00:25:49Mrs. Murdoch

00:25:50and asked if her

00:25:51brasher doubloon

00:25:52was for sale?

00:25:53You knew it wasn't

00:25:54for sale.

00:25:55You would know

00:25:56the Murdoch collection

00:25:57and the terms

00:25:58of the will.

00:25:59But when it was

00:25:59offered to you,

00:26:00you wanted to buy it.

00:26:02Why?

00:26:03As a reputable dealer,

00:26:05you would be

00:26:05protecting the owner

00:26:06or her insurance

00:26:07from complete loss

00:26:08of the stolen item,

00:26:09and they'd gladly

00:26:10pay you

00:26:11for the favor

00:26:12of getting it back.

00:26:13How much

00:26:15would the owner pay?

00:26:17$1,000.

00:26:17What did you pay?

00:26:22$800.

00:26:26For a mint

00:26:28uncirculated

00:26:29brasher

00:26:30doubloon

00:26:31$800.

00:26:37You're a very smart

00:26:39young man.

00:26:40Yeah.

00:26:40Let's have the coin.

00:26:42You take me

00:26:43for a fool.

00:26:44It's not my office.

00:26:46Come back at

00:26:4611 tomorrow

00:26:47with the money.

00:26:49Have it in used

00:26:50bills.

00:26:52Used 20s will do.

00:26:54An occasional 50

00:26:55will do no harm.

00:26:57What did she look like?

00:26:59Who?

00:26:59The girl sold you

00:27:00the coin.

00:27:01Oh, where?

00:27:02He was middle-aged,

00:27:03heavy set,

00:27:04five foot seven,

00:27:05about 170 pounds,

00:27:07said his name

00:27:07was Smith.

00:27:09Blue suit,

00:27:10green shirt,

00:27:11no hat,

00:27:12brown handkerchief,

00:27:12in his outer pocket,

00:27:14hair dark.

00:27:15And, uh,

00:27:16and, uh,

00:27:16oh, yes,

00:27:17a scar

00:27:19two inches long

00:27:20down the side

00:27:21of his jaw.

00:27:22Left side.

00:27:24What about the hole

00:27:25in his right sock?

00:27:27I omitted

00:27:27to take his shoes off.

00:27:29Damn careless of you.

00:27:31Don't think

00:27:32that I don't know

00:27:33how to protect myself,

00:27:35Mr. Murrow.

00:27:36I hope you do,

00:27:36because what you're

00:27:38handling is dynamite.

00:27:41I left Morningstar

00:27:43smiling.

00:27:44What I did next

00:27:45was a cheap trick,

00:27:46a soccer play,

00:27:47but it worked

00:27:48because his secretary

00:27:49was out.

00:27:50I tramped off

00:27:51and then sneaked back

00:27:52into his outer office

00:27:53and listened

00:27:54on her extension.

00:27:56He called a Mr. Anson

00:27:57in Court Street,

00:27:58Bunker Hill,

00:27:59who wasn't in.

00:28:00The same Court Street

00:28:01where lived the pink

00:28:02and innocent

00:28:03George Anson Phillips,

00:28:05who had been hired

00:28:06by a tall blonde,

00:28:07when in her picture,

00:28:08Linda Conquest

00:28:09had dark hair

00:28:10and who had given me

00:28:11his key

00:28:12because he was worried

00:28:13and wanted to see me.

00:28:15Court Street.

00:28:15The couple across the hall

00:28:32from Phillip's apartment

00:28:33were enjoying themselves.

00:28:35They hadn't seen me.

00:28:36They didn't know

00:28:37what day of the week it was.

00:28:38I felt sick.

00:28:40The apartment had seemed empty

00:28:41until I pushed

00:28:42to the bathroom door,

00:28:43which stuck,

00:28:44and then I smelled

00:28:45the smell.

00:28:46Phillips was crumbled up

00:28:48and jammed

00:28:48into the little room.

00:28:50He had a bloody bruise

00:28:51on the right side

00:28:51of his head

00:28:52and his mouth

00:28:52was full of blood.

00:28:54I kept smelling

00:28:55the cordite fumes.

00:28:57I rubbed off

00:28:57any prints of mine

00:28:58and got out.

00:28:59There was nothing

00:29:00for me here.

00:29:01I was a fool

00:29:02even to look

00:29:03at the manager's sign.

00:29:04I should have got out.

00:29:06Yeah?

00:29:11What you want?

00:29:12Uh, Anson.

00:29:13Room 204 upstairs.

00:29:15He's not in.

00:29:16What should I do?

00:29:17Lay an egg?

00:29:18Beat it.

00:29:19Drift.

00:29:19Five bucks.

00:29:20Look, I run

00:29:21a nice respectable place here.

00:29:23Who are you?

00:29:24That's my card.

00:29:26Oh, Pollock.

00:29:28Insurance.

00:29:30Oh, I didn't figure

00:29:31Anson for no crook.

00:29:34Hell,

00:29:34they come in

00:29:35all shapes and sizes.

00:29:37Don't have been here

00:29:37a month.

00:29:38If it looked like

00:29:39a wrong G,

00:29:39he wouldn't have

00:29:40been here at all.

00:29:41What say we frisk

00:29:42the apartment

00:29:42while he's out?

00:29:43Mr. Palermo

00:29:44wouldn't like it.

00:29:46Who's he?

00:29:47He owns the building

00:29:48and a lot of others.

00:29:49Practically owns

00:29:50the district.

00:29:51It's the vote out,

00:29:52you know.

00:29:52Uh,

00:29:53not a guy to crowd.

00:29:55Okay.

00:29:56Let's go up

00:29:56and frisk the apartment.

00:29:58Don't get me sore at you.

00:29:59That would bother me

00:30:00like two cents of nothing.

00:30:01Let's go up

00:30:02and frisk the apartment.

00:30:03You said something

00:30:04about a five?

00:30:05That was hours ago.

00:30:06Let's go up

00:30:07and frisk the apartment.

00:30:08Look,

00:30:08I was sitting here

00:30:09having myself

00:30:10a beer or two

00:30:11or nine,

00:30:12what the hell.

00:30:13I wasn't bothering anybody.

00:30:14Looked like it might

00:30:15be a nice evening.

00:30:16And then you come in.

00:30:18Let's go up

00:30:18and frisk the apartment.

00:30:20Ah,

00:30:21if it's the only way

00:30:22to get you out of here,

00:30:23let's go.

00:30:24Yeah?

00:30:33Pipe down.

00:30:33Too much racket.

00:30:34Next time I call the law.

00:30:36Hey,

00:30:37Hench.

00:30:37What?

00:30:38The guy says to pipe down.

00:30:39Do you want to stalk him?

00:30:41Hey,

00:30:41you.

00:30:42Buzz off.

00:30:43I just come in from lunch.

00:30:45I had a lousy lunch.

00:30:46I wouldn't want nobody

00:30:47to push muscle at me.

00:30:48You heard me,

00:30:49Hench.

00:30:50Dim that radio

00:30:50and make it sudden.

00:30:52Why,

00:30:52you.

00:30:54Very neat

00:30:55with the blackjack.

00:30:55Why,

00:30:56thank you.

00:30:56He's going for a gun

00:30:57under his pillow.

00:30:58Yeah,

00:30:58I can fade that too.

00:31:00Fast draw.

00:31:02Hey,

00:31:03drop the gun,

00:31:04Hench.

00:31:04Hey,

00:31:06this ain't my gun.

00:31:07Mine's a call 32.

00:31:08This ain't my gun.

00:31:09Look,

00:31:09look.

00:31:10Allow me.

00:31:10Go ahead.

00:31:11Let's see it.

00:31:12This ain't my gun.

00:31:15This has been fired recently.

00:31:17That's an automatic.

00:31:18It ain't my gun.

00:31:19A shot has been fired from this

00:31:20and there's a dead man

00:31:21across the hall.

00:31:22What?

00:31:23Better get some law.

00:31:24Let's do it.

00:31:27Phillips was shot in the throat

00:31:28with a medium caliber gun

00:31:30and a soft nose bullet.

00:31:32A gun like this

00:31:32and bullets like his in here.

00:31:34Now tell me again,

00:31:35Hench.

00:31:36Lieutenant,

00:31:37it ain't my gun.

00:31:38Then how did it get

00:31:39under your pillow?

00:31:41We went out about 3.30

00:31:43to get something to eat.

00:31:44You can check that

00:31:45at the hash house.

00:31:47We must have left

00:31:47the door unlocked.

00:31:48Tell me about the gun.

00:31:50I had a gun.

00:31:51Yeah,

00:31:52but it was a revolver,

00:31:53not an automatic.

00:31:55It had a piece

00:31:56broken off the rubber grip.

00:31:58Somebody swiped my gun

00:31:59and left that one.

00:32:00You gotta believe me.

00:32:03You saw him take this gun

00:32:05from under the pillow, Marlowe?

00:32:06Yeah, that's right.

00:32:07Mm-hmm.

00:32:09Okay, Hench.

00:32:10Now say the radio

00:32:11killed the noise of the shot

00:32:12and you had left

00:32:13your door open.

00:32:14The killer hears you go out.

00:32:16Yeah.

00:32:16And he wants to ditch the gun

00:32:18so he walks into your apartment

00:32:20and slips it under your pillow.

00:32:21And then,

00:32:22imagine his surprise,

00:32:23he finds another gun,

00:32:25your gun,

00:32:25there waiting for him.

00:32:27The one with the broken grip,

00:32:28yeah.

00:32:28So he swaps.

00:32:30Now why, huh?

00:32:31Why take the risk?

00:32:33Why the fancy pants?

00:32:34You don't have any boys

00:32:35who can bounce me hard enough

00:32:36to make me tell it different.

00:32:38I need a drink.

00:32:39I need a drink, bear.

00:32:41Oh, jeez,

00:32:41I wish I could remember better.

00:32:43Well, we're going to have to hold you

00:32:44until we trace your gun.

00:32:46Lieutenant Spankler

00:32:47will take you downtown.

00:32:48Get on up, babe.

00:32:49We've got to take a ride.

00:32:50Huh?

00:32:50She needs a drink.

00:32:51Let's go.

00:32:53Come on, babe.

00:32:54Oh, you bum.

00:32:55Yeah.

00:32:56Let's go.

00:32:57All right.

00:33:03Well, you and me, Marlowe,

00:33:04we're going to get along.

00:33:06Oh, that's fine, Lieutenant.

00:33:08Jesse's the name.

00:33:09Jesse Breeze.

00:33:10Look, I haven't taken

00:33:11a sudden fancy to you.

00:33:12It's the way I work.

00:33:13Everything quiet,

00:33:14everything in the clear.

00:33:15You don't think he shot Phillips?

00:33:17Look, I just got here.

00:33:19What's the idea

00:33:20of using the name Pollock?

00:33:22Well, in a neighborhood like this,

00:33:23it's bad form

00:33:24to use your own name.

00:33:25Why come here at all?

00:33:28What do you know

00:33:28about the dead guy?

00:33:30I told you.

00:33:31Look, you don't have

00:33:31to be stuck with it.

00:33:32You could always give us

00:33:33a better story.

00:33:35Okay.

00:33:36He follows you.

00:33:37You brace him.

00:33:38And as a result

00:33:39of this little lobby conversation,

00:33:41this guy,

00:33:42a total stranger to you,

00:33:43asks you to his apartment

00:33:45and hands you his key

00:33:46because he wants

00:33:46to talk to you.

00:33:47Yes.

00:33:49Why couldn't he talk

00:33:49to you then?

00:33:50I had a business appointment.

00:33:54Just what are you working on?

00:33:56I can't tell you.

00:33:57Look, this is a murder case.

00:33:58You're going to have to tell me.

00:33:59I'm sorry, Breeze.

00:34:00I'm not convinced of that yet.

00:34:01You know I can throw you

00:34:02in the can

00:34:02as a material witness?

00:34:04Are you going to do it?

00:34:07Why don't you go home

00:34:08and let a man work, huh?

00:34:09But don't leave town.

00:34:11We'll want a statement.

00:34:12Maybe tonight.

00:34:19It was a quarter to seven

00:34:20when I let myself

00:34:21into my office

00:34:22and found the package.

00:34:24I poured myself a drink

00:34:25and sat there

00:34:26holding the neck

00:34:27of the cool bottle,

00:34:28wondering how it would feel

00:34:29to be a homicide dick

00:34:31and find bodies lying around

00:34:33and not mind at all.

00:34:34Not have to sneak out

00:34:35wiping doorknobs.

00:34:37Not have to ponder

00:34:38how much I could tell

00:34:39without hurting a client

00:34:40and how little I could tell

00:34:41without too badly

00:34:42hurting myself.

00:34:44I decided

00:34:45I wouldn't like it.

00:34:47The package had my name

00:34:49and address

00:34:49neatly hand-printed in ink.

00:34:51It was a cardboard box

00:34:52full of cotton wool

00:34:53and inside that

00:34:55a bright gold coin

00:34:56about the size

00:34:57of a half dollar.

00:34:58The date was 1787

00:34:59and in small letters

00:35:01at the bottom of one side

00:35:02was the name Brasher.

00:35:04I was looking

00:35:05at the Brasher doubloon.

00:35:06There was no note with it.

00:35:08Nothing.

00:35:09I slipped it down

00:35:10with the tobacco

00:35:11in my pouch,

00:35:12got a shoulder holster

00:35:13out of my desk

00:35:13and strapped on

00:35:14a Colt 38 automatic

00:35:15and was ready to leave.

00:35:17too bad for you,

00:35:27Marlowe.

00:35:28Mrs. Murdoch's residence?

00:35:45Merle,

00:35:46you oughtn't

00:35:47to have told him.

00:35:48Who?

00:35:49Your friend, Leslie.

00:35:50You shouldn't have told him.

00:35:51She hired me.

00:35:52How dare you suggest that,

00:35:54Mr. Marlowe?

00:35:55Let me talk to Mrs. Murdoch.

00:35:57Where are you?

00:35:58In a drugstore,

00:35:59in a very hot phone booth.

00:36:01Wait a moment.

00:36:03I need air.

00:36:08This is Mrs. Murdoch.

00:36:10Mrs. Murdoch,

00:36:11could you identify

00:36:12the doubloon?

00:36:13I suppose so.

00:36:15I don't know.

00:36:16The dealer,

00:36:16Morningstar,

00:36:17claims to have seen it.

00:36:18I'm going to call

00:36:19on him now.

00:36:20He says it was offered

00:36:20to him for sale

00:36:21just as you suspected.

00:36:23I see.

00:36:23He won't say

00:36:24who offered it,

00:36:25but it may have been

00:36:25a fellow called

00:36:26George Anson Phillips,

00:36:28who claims to be

00:36:28a private eye.

00:36:29Do you know him?

00:36:30Why should I?

00:36:32Get to the point,

00:36:33Marlowe.

00:36:33I've agreed to pay

00:36:34a thousand dollars

00:36:35for the return

00:36:36of the article,

00:36:37if you want me to do that.

00:36:38This is all

00:36:39very unnecessary

00:36:40now, Marlowe.

00:36:42You see,

00:36:42the coin has been

00:36:43returned to me.

00:36:45What?

00:36:46Hold the wire.

00:36:47What is going on?

00:36:55A rat was gnawing

00:36:56my foot,

00:36:56that's all.

00:36:57You got it back.

00:36:58How?

00:36:59I may explain,

00:37:00and I may not.

00:37:02You may call

00:37:02on me tomorrow.

00:37:04The investigation

00:37:04is closed.

00:37:06Things have happened,

00:37:07Mrs. Murdoch.

00:37:08Tell me tomorrow.

00:37:09Goodbye.

00:37:10Goodbye.

00:37:10You were right, sir.

00:37:20A double scotch

00:37:21on the rocks,

00:37:22no ice.

00:37:23This is a drugstore, sir,

00:37:24not a bar.

00:37:25Huh?

00:37:25Oh, yeah, yeah,

00:37:26so it is.

00:37:27I mean,

00:37:27so it isn't.

00:37:28I've had a shock, pal.

00:37:29Give me a cup

00:37:30of wheat coffee

00:37:31and a thin ham sandwich

00:37:32on stale bread.

00:37:33No, no,

00:37:34I better not eat yet either.

00:37:35Goodbye.

00:37:38Hollywood's full of them.

00:37:40I was sitting at home

00:37:48over a chest problem

00:37:49with a drink at my elbow

00:37:51and nothing on my mind

00:37:52except two murders.

00:37:54Morningstar was dead

00:37:55when I got to his office.

00:37:57He had been hit on the head

00:37:58and the violet color

00:37:59of his face

00:38:00showed that he had died

00:38:01of a heart stoppage,

00:38:02but that didn't make it

00:38:03any less murder.

00:38:05So I wiped the doorknobs,

00:38:07walked back past

00:38:08the dental technicians

00:38:08and the typewriting service

00:38:10and hoped the old elevator man

00:38:11was as vacant as he looked.

00:38:13And then I called

00:38:14the receiving hospital,

00:38:15giving no name.

00:38:17Then I hocked

00:38:17the doubloon

00:38:18I'd been sent

00:38:19in a pawn shop

00:38:20for safekeeping,

00:38:21wondering all the time

00:38:22how Mrs. Murdoch

00:38:23had got it back

00:38:24while I had it

00:38:25in my pocket

00:38:25and why two men

00:38:27had to die

00:38:27and I had to find them

00:38:29and go home.

00:38:50Oh, what brings you here, Lieutenant?

00:38:53Take a look around, Spangler.

00:38:55Yes, sir.

00:38:57Close the door, Marlowe.

00:38:59There's nobody here.

00:39:01I live alone.

00:39:03You don't mind

00:39:03if we look?

00:39:11Spangler?

00:39:12No, nobody here.

00:39:14Satisfied?

00:39:15Let me show you out.

00:39:16We didn't come here

00:39:17to get tough, Marlowe.

00:39:18Oh, that's fine.

00:39:19So you prowl

00:39:19all around my apartment

00:39:20without asking my permission.

00:39:22What do you do

00:39:22when you get tough?

00:39:23Knock me down

00:39:23and kick me?

00:39:24Murder ain't funny, Marlowe.

00:39:26Who said it was?

00:39:28You, uh,

00:39:29you play a lot of chess?

00:39:30That's just a game

00:39:31I've set out.

00:39:32Once in a while

00:39:33I fool around with a game

00:39:34thinking things out.

00:39:35Don't it take two guys

00:39:36to play chess?

00:39:37I play over tournament games

00:39:39that have been recorded

00:39:40and published.

00:39:41There's a whole literature

00:39:42about chess.

00:39:44Once in a while

00:39:45I work out problems.

00:39:47Well, you may as well

00:39:47sit down.

00:39:49Oh, thanks.

00:39:51I did a little checking

00:39:52about you.

00:39:53You...

00:39:53Lieutenant Randall

00:39:55tells me you're on the level.

00:39:56Oh, that's friendly of him.

00:39:58He says you make good coffee

00:39:59and you get up

00:40:00kind of late

00:40:01and are apt to run

00:40:02to a very bright line

00:40:03of chatter

00:40:04and that we should

00:40:05believe anything you say

00:40:07provided we can check it

00:40:09by five independent witnesses.

00:40:12You know,

00:40:13I like everything

00:40:13in the clear.

00:40:14That's why I'm telling you.

00:40:16I just hope you've

00:40:17told me everything.

00:40:18Why should I?

00:40:19You don't pay my salary.

00:40:20Don't get tough.

00:40:21I don't have any idea

00:40:22of being tough.

00:40:23Let's talk about murder.

00:40:25Okay.

00:40:25The murder of...

00:40:26George Anson Phillips.

00:40:28And?

00:40:29That's our murder.

00:40:31You said you didn't know

00:40:32why he wanted to see you.

00:40:34We figured that maybe

00:40:35with time to think back

00:40:36you could remember.

00:40:37In other words,

00:40:38I was lying.

00:40:39We just want you

00:40:40to make sense.

00:40:41Why give the manager

00:40:42a phony card

00:40:43and get him to go up with you

00:40:44when you've already

00:40:44found the body?

00:40:45It pays to be cagey

00:40:46in those places.

00:40:48I thought he might

00:40:48know something,

00:40:49that's all.

00:40:50We know Phillips

00:40:51was on a job

00:40:52as a private dick

00:40:53like you.

00:40:53You're on a job.

00:40:55Now,

00:40:55if those jobs tie up,

00:40:57that's our business.

00:40:58Now,

00:40:59don't forget,

00:40:59this is a murder case.

00:41:01I've been around this town

00:41:02more than 15 years.

00:41:03I've seen murder cases

00:41:04come and go.

00:41:05Some have been solved.

00:41:07Some couldn't be solved.

00:41:08And some could have been solved

00:41:10that were not solved.

00:41:11And one or two

00:41:12or three

00:41:13have been solved wrong.

00:41:16Maybe you've forgotten

00:41:17the Cassidy case.

00:41:18Look,

00:41:19I'm tired.

00:41:19Let's stick to the Phillips case.

00:41:21I'm going to make a point.

00:41:22And it's an important point.

00:41:25Cassidy was a very rich man.

00:41:27A multimillionaire.

00:41:28He had a grown-up son.

00:41:30One night,

00:41:31the cops were called

00:41:32to his home.

00:41:34Young Cassidy

00:41:34was on his back

00:41:35with a bullet hole

00:41:36in the side of his head.

00:41:37And his male secretary

00:41:38was lying in the adjoining bathroom

00:41:40with a gun

00:41:41by his right hand.

00:41:42He, too,

00:41:43had been shot in the head.

00:41:44But it was not

00:41:45a contact wound.

00:41:46A lot of drinking

00:41:47had been done.

00:41:49Four hours had elapsed

00:41:50since the deaths.

00:41:52And the family doctor

00:41:53called in by the father

00:41:54had been there

00:41:54for three of those hours.

00:41:56Now,

00:41:57what did the cops do

00:41:58with the Cassidy case?

00:42:00Murder and suicide

00:42:01during a drinking spree.

00:42:02The secretary went haywire

00:42:04and shot young Cassidy.

00:42:05Is that what you want me to say?

00:42:06That's what the papers said.

00:42:08But the cops knew

00:42:09it wasn't so.

00:42:10And the D.A. knew.

00:42:11And the D.A.'s investigators

00:42:12were pulled off the case.

00:42:14Everybody knew

00:42:15young Cassidy

00:42:15was the one

00:42:16who was crazy drunk.

00:42:17That the secretary

00:42:18tried to handle him

00:42:19and couldn't.

00:42:20And that Cassidy

00:42:20did the shooting.

00:42:21Then shot himself.

00:42:23Cassidy's

00:42:23was the contact wound.

00:42:25And what were

00:42:26rich daddy

00:42:26and the family doctor

00:42:27doing for those

00:42:28four hours

00:42:29they didn't call the cops?

00:42:31Why were no tests

00:42:32made on the hands?

00:42:33Because you didn't

00:42:34want the truth.

00:42:35Cassidy was too big.

00:42:36But this was a murder case

00:42:37too, wasn't it?

00:42:39The guys were both dead.

00:42:40What the hell

00:42:41difference does it make?

00:42:41Who shot who?

00:42:42Did you ever stop

00:42:43and think that the secretary

00:42:44might have had a mother

00:42:45or a sister

00:42:45or a sweetheart?

00:42:47That they had their pride

00:42:48and their faith

00:42:48and their love

00:42:49for a kid who was made out

00:42:50to be a drunken

00:42:51paranoia killer

00:42:51just because his boss

00:42:53had a hundred million bucks?

00:42:54What difference

00:42:55does it make?

00:42:57Make your point.

00:42:58until you guys

00:43:00own your own souls

00:43:02you don't own mine

00:43:03until you guys

00:43:05can be trusted

00:43:05every time

00:43:06and always

00:43:07in all times

00:43:08and conditions

00:43:08to seek the truth

00:43:09and find it

00:43:10and let the chips

00:43:11fall where they may

00:43:12until that time comes

00:43:13I have a right

00:43:14to listen to my conscience

00:43:15and protect my client

00:43:16the best way I can

00:43:17until I'm sure

00:43:19you won't do him

00:43:20more harm

00:43:20than you do the truth good

00:43:21or until I'm

00:43:22hauled before somebody

00:43:23who can make me talk.

00:43:25You sound to me

00:43:26just a little like a guy

00:43:27who was trying

00:43:28to hold his conscience down.

00:43:32Hell, leave it.

00:43:34Let's have a drink.

00:43:35Well,

00:43:37this one won't do no harm.

00:43:40Spangler,

00:43:40get some ice for the man.

00:43:42Hey, sir,

00:43:43I'd like to read up

00:43:43on that Cassidy case.

00:43:44Sounds interesting.

00:43:46Must have been

00:43:46before my time.

00:43:47It never happened.

00:43:50You're kidding me.

00:43:51Yeah.

00:43:52Oh.

00:43:54I'll get the ice.

00:43:57What did you find out

00:43:59about Phillips' background?

00:44:02Kind of a pathetic case,

00:44:03that kid.

00:44:05The sheriff up at Ventura

00:44:06said he did

00:44:07what they told him to do

00:44:08and he'd do it pretty well

00:44:10provided they told him

00:44:11which foot to start on

00:44:12and how many steps

00:44:13to take which way

00:44:14and little things like that.

00:44:16But he didn't develop much,

00:44:17if you get what I mean.

00:44:18So the sheriff

00:44:19let George go.

00:44:21He knocked around

00:44:22for a while,

00:44:23had a few jobs

00:44:24and came to L.A.,

00:44:25got a license

00:44:26and put a private eye ad

00:44:27in the paper.

00:44:28He must have got a customer

00:44:29because he suddenly

00:44:30took that apartment

00:44:31under the name of Anson.

00:44:32Unless he knew

00:44:33he got bumped off.

00:44:35Kind of a pathetic case.

00:44:37Here's the ice.

00:44:38Hmm.

00:44:41Well,

00:44:42happy days.

00:44:43Cheers.

00:44:47What about Hench?

00:44:49Ah, nothing about Hench.

00:44:52He and the girl

00:44:52had been drinking for days.

00:44:54The world is full of bums

00:44:55like Hench.

00:44:56What about the gun?

00:44:57Well, it was the one

00:44:57that killed Phillips.

00:44:58The killer must have

00:44:59taken Hench's gun with him.

00:45:00You can trace that gun.

00:45:01Hench doesn't even

00:45:02remember the number,

00:45:03just that it had a piece

00:45:04broken off the grip.

00:45:06Well,

00:45:07thanks for the drink, Marl.

00:45:10I don't know

00:45:11what to make of you.

00:45:13I can't see you knowing

00:45:14as little as you pretend.

00:45:16How long do you expect

00:45:17to stay dummied up?

00:45:18I don't know.

00:45:20Well, let me help you out.

00:45:21Till noon, tomorrow.

00:45:24And after that?

00:45:25Withholding evidence

00:45:25is a rap you won't beat.

00:45:28Let's go, Spangler.

00:45:29Uh, did you go through

00:45:30Phillips' desk?

00:45:31Yeah, nothing there.

00:45:32Just a diary

00:45:32full of ordinary stuff

00:45:33except it was hand-printed.

00:45:35Very neat.

00:45:35Must have been the way

00:45:36the guy wrote.

00:45:37Oh, Marlowe.

00:45:39Uh,

00:45:40you know any tall blondes?

00:45:41I'd have to think.

00:45:43How tall?

00:45:44Tall.

00:45:45A looker.

00:45:46She came out of the place

00:45:47about an hour

00:45:48before you got there.

00:45:49Nothing comes to me.

00:45:50Well, talk things over

00:45:51with your client

00:45:52and then come clean, Marlowe.

00:45:54Noon.

00:45:55Tomorrow.

00:45:56Twelve hours.

00:45:57I don't think we can believe

00:45:58a word he says.

00:45:59Oh, he just changed the name.

00:46:01It wasn't Cassidy.

00:46:03But you remember it.

00:46:04Yeah.

00:46:06Good night, Marlowe.

00:46:10Good night.

00:46:11Good night.

00:46:14Marlowe.

00:46:19All right.

00:46:20Talk it up,

00:46:21whoever you are.

00:46:22Maybe you're smart.

00:46:24Maybe you'd like

00:46:25to do yourself some good.

00:46:27How much good?

00:46:29Say,

00:46:29five hundred dollars worth.

00:46:31Wanna talk?

00:46:33Who to?

00:46:34Marnie.

00:46:35Idle Valley Club.

00:46:37Who are you?

00:46:38Just ask at the gate

00:46:40for Eddie Pru.

00:46:42The club looked like

00:46:49a high-budget musical.

00:46:50A lot of glitter,

00:46:52a lot of scenery,

00:46:53and a plot with all the originality

00:46:54of a split fingernail.

00:46:56A blonde in a dress

00:46:57that looked like seawater

00:46:59sifted over with gold dust

00:47:00hung on the leer

00:47:01of a short fat man.

00:47:03A cigarette girl

00:47:04had an egret plume

00:47:05in her hair,

00:47:06enough clothes

00:47:07to hide behind a toothpick,

00:47:08and one beautiful naked leg

00:47:10painted silver

00:47:10and the other gold.

00:47:13She had the

00:47:13disdainful expression

00:47:15of a dame

00:47:15who makes her dates

00:47:16by long distance.

00:47:18In the bar,

00:47:19quiet voices

00:47:20whispered of love

00:47:21or ten percent

00:47:22or whatever they whisper

00:47:23about in such places.

00:47:25I sat in the bar

00:47:26to wait

00:47:26and listened to a man

00:47:27tell his girl

00:47:28that that was

00:47:29Linda Conquest

00:47:30who was back

00:47:30with the band.

00:47:32Marlowe.

00:47:33Huh?

00:47:33I'm Eddie Proulx.

00:47:35Yeah.

00:47:36You want to talk to me

00:47:37and I want to talk to you

00:47:38and I want to talk

00:47:39to the girl

00:47:40who just sang.

00:47:41Let's go.

00:47:42Mr. Morney

00:47:43is waiting for you.

00:47:45Marlowe,

00:47:46I don't like peepers.

00:47:48I don't like them

00:47:50for lots of reasons.

00:47:51I don't like them

00:47:52when they bother my friends

00:47:54or bust in on my wife

00:47:56or get tough

00:47:57with my guests.

00:47:59In short,

00:47:59I just don't like them.

00:48:01but just at this moment

00:48:03I might have a use for you.

00:48:07Is that why you had

00:48:08your hard boy here

00:48:09calling me up

00:48:09and trying to scare me to death

00:48:11and then talking

00:48:11about five hundred dollars?

00:48:13Maybe.

00:48:14Well, maybe our business

00:48:15is a little mixed up together

00:48:17through no fault of mine.

00:48:18In what way?

00:48:19The description

00:48:20of this same hard boy

00:48:22fits a tall guy

00:48:23who was following around

00:48:24after a fellow

00:48:25in my business

00:48:26who happened

00:48:26to get shot this afternoon.

00:48:28Who was the fellow?

00:48:29Name of Phillips.

00:48:31I don't know who killed him.

00:48:32Do you?

00:48:33It may have been

00:48:34a tall blonde.

00:48:35What?

00:48:36What blonde?

00:48:37We don't know.

00:48:38We?

00:48:39Me and the cops.

00:48:41You told the cops?

00:48:43Very little.

00:48:44I found him.

00:48:46Look, Morney,

00:48:46you know I'm trying

00:48:48to find Mrs. Leslie Murdoch.

00:48:50She's back singing here.

00:48:51I'd like to talk to her.

00:48:53You can go to hell

00:48:54any time you want to

00:48:55or do a job for me.

00:48:57Either way,

00:48:59you leave Eddie and me

00:49:00out of any conversations

00:49:02you might have

00:49:02with the police.

00:49:04What's the job?

00:49:05You were at my house.

00:49:07You saw my wife

00:49:08and her friend,

00:49:09Lou Vanier.

00:49:11I don't do

00:49:12that kind of business.

00:49:14Marlo,

00:49:15I'll be straight with you.

00:49:17I've only been married

00:49:18eight months.

00:49:19She's a swell girl

00:49:20and she knows

00:49:21what time it is

00:49:22as a rule.

00:49:23She's just playing

00:49:24a wrong number

00:49:25at the moment.

00:49:26Wrong in what way?

00:49:27That's what I want

00:49:28you to find out.

00:49:30This fell out

00:49:32of Vanier's pocket

00:49:33here about

00:49:33ten days ago.

00:49:37Is this supposed

00:49:38to mean something to me?

00:49:39You're the smart detective.

00:49:40You find out.

00:49:42This is a bill

00:49:43for dental supplies

00:49:44to a dental mechanic

00:49:46called Teeger.

00:49:47I don't know

00:49:48what connection

00:49:48Vanier has with Teeger,

00:49:50but Vanier's

00:49:52up to something.

00:49:52Here's the 500.

00:49:57Take Vanier

00:49:58out of my wife's life

00:50:00and there'll be another.

00:50:03Huh?

00:50:04I don't want to know

00:50:05how you do it.

00:50:06Just do it.

00:50:08Pay me when I deliver

00:50:09and let me talk

00:50:11to Linda Conquest.

00:50:13Eddie,

00:50:14bring her in.

00:50:15Sure, boss.

00:50:16Tell me something else.

00:50:23Why was Prue

00:50:24following Phillips?

00:50:26He was following

00:50:27my wife,

00:50:28but leave her

00:50:29out of it.

00:50:30I don't know

00:50:31who killed the guy.

00:50:32Why should I believe you?

00:50:34Why did you have

00:50:34Prue call up

00:50:35and give me the shakes?

00:50:36Leslie Murdoch

00:50:37was here today.

00:50:39He told Linda

00:50:40you were hired

00:50:41by his mother.

00:50:42I guess I'm just

00:50:43a fellow

00:50:44who likes his friends

00:50:46and doesn't want

00:50:47them bothered.

00:50:50Linda,

00:50:51this is

00:50:52Philip Marlowe.

00:50:56I'll leave you

00:50:57two alone.

00:51:02By and large,

00:51:03I'm sure I won't like you,

00:51:04so speak your piece

00:51:05and drift away.

00:51:06What I like about

00:51:07this place

00:51:07is how it all runs

00:51:08true to type,

00:51:09the B picture,

00:51:10even down to the

00:51:11tall, dark torture

00:51:12with the negligent sneer.

00:51:14Why do you want

00:51:14to talk to me?

00:51:15She wants it back.

00:51:17What?

00:51:17The brash or doubloon

00:51:18you stole from her.

00:51:20She thinks I stole it.

00:51:22She's a dirty old liar.

00:51:24What would I want

00:51:24with some silly old coin?

00:51:26Money.

00:51:27I gather Mrs. Murdoch

00:51:28was not too generous.

00:51:30No,

00:51:31she would not

00:51:32rate as generous.

00:51:33Passing on from that

00:51:34to more important matters,

00:51:36will you give

00:51:36Leslie a divorce?

00:51:38At 25 grand,

00:51:39I should be glad to.

00:51:40So you're not

00:51:41in love with the guy?

00:51:42You're breaking my heart.

00:51:43He's in love with you

00:51:44and you did marry him.

00:51:45Mister,

00:51:45don't think I didn't

00:51:46pay for that mistake.

00:51:48A girl has to live

00:51:49and it isn't always

00:51:50as easy as it looks.

00:51:52I don't want

00:51:53to be too cynical,

00:51:54but you'd be surprised

00:51:55how many girls

00:51:56marry to find a hope.

00:51:58Especially girls

00:51:59whose arm muscles

00:51:59are all tired out

00:52:00fighting off

00:52:01the kind of optimists

00:52:02that come into

00:52:03these gin and glitter joints.

00:52:05You got a home,

00:52:05but you gave it up.

00:52:06You've met that

00:52:07poor sodden old dame.

00:52:08I have.

00:52:09You notice what

00:52:09she's doing

00:52:10to that kid, Merle?

00:52:11That girl had a shock

00:52:12of some kind.

00:52:14The old brood

00:52:14has used that

00:52:15to dominate

00:52:15the kid's whole life.

00:52:17In company,

00:52:18she yells at her,

00:52:19but in private,

00:52:20she's apt to be

00:52:21stroking her hair,

00:52:21whispering in her ear,

00:52:23and the kid

00:52:23sort of shivers.

00:52:24What sort of shock?

00:52:25I don't know.

00:52:26Kid's in love

00:52:27with Leslie,

00:52:28but emotionally

00:52:28she's about

00:52:28ten years old.

00:52:31Something funny

00:52:31is going to happen

00:52:32in that family.

00:52:32I'm glad I won't be there.

00:52:34You're tough

00:52:35and you're wise,

00:52:36Linda.

00:52:37I suppose when you

00:52:38married him,

00:52:38you thought you

00:52:39could get your

00:52:39hands on plenty.

00:52:40I thought at least

00:52:41it would be a vacation.

00:52:43That Murdoch woman

00:52:44is ruthless,

00:52:44Marlowe.

00:52:45She's up to something.

00:52:46You watch her step.

00:52:47Would she kill

00:52:47a couple of men?

00:52:49I don't get it.

00:52:50Two men are dead

00:52:51and connected

00:52:52with the brasher

00:52:52doubloom.

00:52:53I'm making that up.

00:52:54I believe you

00:52:55didn't take it,

00:52:55Linda.

00:52:56What about the divorce?

00:52:58That's none of your affair.

00:52:59I agree.

00:53:00Thanks for talking to me.

00:53:02Oh, uh,

00:53:03do you know

00:53:03a fellow named Vanier?

00:53:05He's a friend of Lois.

00:53:06One of these days

00:53:07he'll have to turn out

00:53:08to be a small,

00:53:09quiet funeral.

00:53:09Morning will kill him.

00:53:10Why?

00:53:11Lois' magic flops

00:53:12at the drop of a hat.

00:53:13Anybody can see that.

00:53:14Vanier isn't just anybody.

00:53:17He's in a lot of things.

00:53:18He even knows

00:53:19Mrs. Murdoch.

00:53:20Oh?

00:53:21How?

00:53:22He used to call

00:53:22regularly on the phone.

00:53:23He'd always talk to Merle.

00:53:24That's all I know.

00:53:27Marlowe,

00:53:27I'm tired.

00:53:28Please go away.

00:53:30Linda,

00:53:31good night and thanks.

00:53:32Good luck.

00:53:34Yeah.

00:53:39Good morning,

00:53:40Mrs. Murdoch.

00:53:41The cops are after me.

00:53:42I thought you were

00:53:43more competent than that.

00:53:44When I left you yesterday,

00:53:46a man followed me.

00:53:47I invited him

00:53:48to tell me why.

00:53:49We arranged to meet.

00:53:50But when I got there,

00:53:51he was dead

00:53:52on the floor

00:53:53of his bathroom.

00:53:54Name of George Phillips?

00:53:55I have never heard of him.

00:53:57And now the police

00:53:58are involved

00:53:59over this dead man?

00:54:00Naturally.

00:54:01And they want to know

00:54:02why I'm involved.

00:54:05How's your asthma?

00:54:07Bad.

00:54:08Get on with your story.

00:54:10Remember Morningstar?

00:54:12When you told me

00:54:13the doubloon

00:54:13had been returned to you,

00:54:14I tried to contact him

00:54:16to say any deal was off.

00:54:17When I got there,

00:54:18he was dead

00:54:19on the floor of his office.

00:54:21I called the hospital,

00:54:22but I did not give my name.

00:54:23That was wise of you.

00:54:25Was it?

00:54:25I don't think

00:54:26I'd call it wise.

00:54:27I want to be nice,

00:54:29Mrs. Murdoch.

00:54:30I think you understand

00:54:31that in your rough way,

00:54:32but two murders happened.

00:54:34Both bodies

00:54:35were found by me,

00:54:36and both are connected

00:54:37with your coin.

00:54:38You take all this

00:54:39very calmly.

00:54:41What do you want me to do?

00:54:42The coin was returned to you?

00:54:44Yesterday.

00:54:45Mrs. Murdoch,

00:54:47I have until noon today

00:54:50to reveal the name

00:54:51of my client.

00:54:53That would be

00:54:53a breach of confidence.

00:54:55I wish you'd leave

00:54:56the damn port alone

00:54:58and try to make some effort

00:54:59to understand the position.

00:55:00You'll find a way out.

00:55:02I expect it to cost me

00:55:03a little more money,

00:55:04of course.

00:55:05Excuse me

00:55:06while I try to breathe.

00:55:08Let me explain.

00:55:10I'm working for you

00:55:11this week.

00:55:12Next week,

00:55:12it'll be somebody else,

00:55:13I hope,

00:55:14and so on and on

00:55:15it will go.

00:55:16And to do that,

00:55:17I need to be on

00:55:18reasonably good terms

00:55:19with the police.

00:55:20I have to tell them

00:55:21my connection with Phillips,

00:55:22and they have to question

00:55:23anybody they want

00:55:24to question.

00:55:25Can't you understand that?

00:55:27Doesn't the law

00:55:28give you the right

00:55:29to protect the client?

00:55:30If it doesn't,

00:55:31what is the use

00:55:32of anyone hiring

00:55:33a detective?

00:55:34The law is a matter

00:55:35of give and take.

00:55:36Even if I had the right

00:55:37to refuse to talk,

00:55:38it would be the end

00:55:38of my business.

00:55:40I value your custom,

00:55:41Mrs. Murdoch,

00:55:42but not enough

00:55:43to cut my throat

00:55:44and bleed in your lap.

00:55:45You seem to have

00:55:46made a nice mess

00:55:47of the whole thing.

00:55:49You didn't find

00:55:50my daughter-in-law

00:55:51and I got the

00:55:52doubloon back myself.

00:55:53All you did was

00:55:54find a couple of

00:55:55dead men

00:55:55that I have nothing

00:55:56to do with.

00:55:57And now you want

00:55:58me to tell the police

00:55:59all my private business

00:56:00in order to protect you

00:56:01from your own

00:56:02incompetence.

00:56:04If I am wrong,

00:56:06pray correct me.

00:56:07Well,

00:56:07nobody's perfect.

00:56:09But you can't dummy up

00:56:10on a murder case.

00:56:11You can't fob cops off

00:56:13as long as they think

00:56:15you are hiding something

00:56:16they never let up.

00:56:17Give them a reasonable

00:56:18and plausible story

00:56:20and they go away cheerful.

00:56:21And the most reasonable

00:56:22and plausible story

00:56:24is always the truth.

00:56:25They won't publish it

00:56:26in the papers.

00:56:27Do you have any objection

00:56:29to telling it?

00:56:30It doesn't seem

00:56:31to make much difference.

00:56:33Do I have to tell them

00:56:35that the coin

00:56:36has been returned

00:56:37and how?

00:56:38That's the sort of truth

00:56:39I had in mind.

00:56:41This is

00:56:42going to humiliate me

00:56:44very much.

00:56:46Too bad.

00:56:47You're a callous brute.

00:56:49I deeply regret

00:56:50ever having met you.

00:56:52Mutual.

00:56:54Merle.

00:56:54Yes, Mrs. Murdoch?

00:56:56Ask my son

00:56:56to come in here at once

00:56:58and you come with him.

00:57:00My son took the coin,

00:57:02Mr. Merle.

00:57:03My son.

00:57:04My own son.

00:57:07And he returned it?

00:57:09I only have one coin.

00:57:13There is only one coin.

00:57:15Oh, I was forgetting.

00:57:19Sit down, Merle.

00:57:21And you too, Leslie.

00:57:23Yes, Mother.

00:57:24Now, tell Mr. Marlow

00:57:26about the doubloon.

00:57:28Oh, but I...

00:57:29I'm afraid

00:57:30he has to be told.

00:57:34Well...

00:57:34You know I owe Alex

00:57:39Morney $12,000.

00:57:41I didn't want Mother to know

00:57:42and he was pressing me

00:57:44pretty hard for payment.

00:57:45I guess I knew

00:57:46I would have to tell Mother

00:57:47in the end,

00:57:48but I was weak enough

00:57:49to want to put it off.

00:57:51So I took the doubloon

00:57:53one afternoon.

00:57:54Morney agreed

00:57:55to hold it as security,

00:57:56as a pledge.

00:57:58When the dealer called up

00:57:59and asked about the coin,

00:58:00I immediately became suspicious

00:58:02that Morney was trying

00:58:02to sell it.

00:58:04I was badly scared

00:58:05when Merle told me

00:58:07that Mother

00:58:07had employed a detective.

00:58:09Merle ought not

00:58:10to have told me,

00:58:11but Mother has promised

00:58:12not to scold her for it.

00:58:14I was sure you were hired

00:58:15to find the doubloon,

00:58:16not Linda.

00:58:17I knew where Linda was.

00:58:19So yesterday

00:58:21I went to Morney

00:58:22and at first

00:58:23he laughed in my face.

00:58:25But when I told him

00:58:25the terms of the will,

00:58:27how it couldn't be sold,

00:58:28he just gave it back to me

00:58:29without another word.

00:58:31So I brought it home

00:58:32and told Mother

00:58:33all about it.

00:58:34Thank you, Leslie.

00:58:37That's all,

00:58:38Mr. Morlow.

00:58:40Did Morney threaten you?

00:58:43No,

00:58:44he was very decent

00:58:45about it, really.

00:58:47This was at the

00:58:47Idle Valley Club?

00:58:49Was Eddie Prue there?

00:58:51Who is Eddie Prue?

00:58:53Morney's bodyguard.

00:58:55I didn't waste

00:58:55all my time yesterday.

00:58:56He wasn't around.

00:58:58And the coin is here

00:58:59in the house now?

00:59:01Where else

00:59:02would you expect it to be?

00:59:04Kiss your mother now,

00:59:05Leslie,

00:59:06and run along.

00:59:08Yes, Mother.

00:59:11See you later.

00:59:12Merle.

00:59:13Yes?

00:59:14Go back to your work.

00:59:16I wanted you to hear this,

00:59:18but if I ever catch you

00:59:19violating my confidence,

00:59:21you know what will happen.

00:59:22Oh, I never will,

00:59:24Mrs. Murdoch.

00:59:24Never.

00:59:25You can trust me.

00:59:26I hope so.

00:59:27Get up.

00:59:28Yes.

00:59:31I'm very fond of my son.

00:59:37This grieves me deeply.

00:59:42Will he...

00:59:43Will he have to tell his story

00:59:46to the police?

00:59:47I hope not.

00:59:49They won't believe it.

00:59:50What?

00:59:51Did he make it up himself

00:59:52or did you teach it to him?

00:59:54You want me to believe

00:59:55a big fish like Morney

00:59:56would tie himself

00:59:57to a couple of small murders

00:59:58over a gambling pledge?

01:00:00I don't like your tone,

01:00:01Mr. Merle.

01:00:02I don't blame you.

01:00:03I don't like it myself.

01:00:04I don't like you.

01:00:05Or this case.

01:00:06Or the truth I'm not told.

01:00:07Or the lies I am told.

01:00:09Get out!

01:00:09Get out of this house at once.

01:00:10Don't delay one instant.

01:00:13Get out!

01:00:14I'll be glad to.

01:00:19Mr. Marlowe!

01:00:21Oh, Mr. Marlowe,

01:00:22please wait.

01:00:23To hell with her.

01:00:24Please.

01:00:25She's in trouble.

01:00:26She needs you.

01:00:27You're wearing lipstick, Merle.

01:00:28Looks good.

01:00:29Please, please help her.

01:00:31I know she blusters,

01:00:32but her heart is pure gold.

01:00:34It's a forgery.

01:00:36To hell with her.

01:00:36I'm in trouble up to my ear flaps,

01:00:38and I've run out of time.

01:00:40Oh, please!

01:00:40Oh, now don't you start crying.

01:00:43Don't touch me!

01:00:44Don't ever touch me!

01:00:46Merle,

01:00:47did something happen to you

01:00:49when you were younger?

01:00:50Hmm.

01:00:52A man scared you

01:00:53or something like that?

01:00:54Hmm.

01:00:55Well, look,

01:00:56I won't do anything

01:00:57that will scare you.

01:00:58Not ever.

01:00:59Nor will Leslie,

01:01:00nor the old wine barrel.

01:01:02She's decent enough to you,

01:01:03isn't she?

01:01:04Yes.

01:01:05Sure.

01:01:06Now, why don't you get over it?

01:01:07Is he still around,

01:01:09the one that hurt you?

01:01:10He's dead.

01:01:13He fell out of...

01:01:14out of...

01:01:15Mrs. Murdoch keeps telling me

01:01:18to forget it.

01:01:18She talks to me

01:01:19for the longest time

01:01:20telling me to forget it,

01:01:21but I just can't.

01:01:23I'll bet.

01:01:25Mrs. Murdoch

01:01:26can't forget it either.

01:01:28You see,

01:01:29he was her first husband.

01:01:31I was his secretary.

01:01:32Mr. Bright

01:01:35fell out of the...

01:01:36out of the...

01:01:39out of the...

01:01:41window!

01:01:43Oh!

01:01:44I said I'd give you

01:01:46till noon, Marlowe.

01:01:47I had to go to the dentist.

01:01:48Till 2 p.m.?

01:01:50I left a message for you.

01:01:51Mm-hmm.

01:01:52Had a busy little morning?

01:01:53Oh, you boys are as cute

01:01:54as a couple of lost golf balls.

01:01:57You think he's sweating, Spangler?

01:01:58He should be.

01:01:59You know,

01:02:00a reporter once wrote

01:02:01that when you pass

01:02:02beyond the green lights

01:02:03of the precinct station,

01:02:05you pass clear out of this world

01:02:06into a place beyond the law.

01:02:08He wants us to come back to Earth.

01:02:11Oh, what's up with you two?

01:02:13Hench confessed.

01:02:14Yeah.

01:02:15He confessed.

01:02:16What did you use on him?

01:02:17A pickaxe?

01:02:18No.

01:02:19Look, you want to know

01:02:20or you just want to wisecrack.

01:02:21Tell me.

01:02:23Well, Hench was drunk

01:02:24when we brought him in, right?

01:02:26A guy like that,

01:02:27you take his liquor away,

01:02:28he's a lost cuckoo.

01:02:30Well, last night in the cells,

01:02:31Hench's bugs,

01:02:32so they drag him over

01:02:33to the hospital ward

01:02:34and they shoot him full of hop.

01:02:35Now, that's between us,

01:02:37no hop on the record,

01:02:38you get it?

01:02:38All too clearly.

01:02:40Well, this A.M.,

01:02:41he's fine.

01:02:42Pale, but peaceful.

01:02:43So we go over

01:02:44and we treat him nice.

01:02:46You know the line.

01:02:47Yeah.

01:02:47So after a while,

01:02:48he opens his trap,

01:02:49just enough to say Palermo.

01:02:51Now, it turns out

01:02:52this Palermo owns property,

01:02:55including the apartment house

01:02:56on Court Street.

01:02:57And he's important,

01:02:58he gets the vote out up there.

01:03:00Well, we come back

01:03:00to the hutch

01:03:01and we phone Palermo.

01:03:03We talk like this.

01:03:04Hench wants to see you,

01:03:05Mr. Palermo.

01:03:06I wouldn't know why.

01:03:08He's a poor guy,

01:03:09says Palermo.

01:03:10A nicer guy.

01:03:11I think he's okay.

01:03:12So he doesn't want to see me?

01:03:13That's a fine.

01:03:14I see him.

01:03:15I see him alone,

01:03:16without any coppers.

01:03:18We say,

01:03:19okay, Mr. Palermo.

01:03:20So Palermo comes down

01:03:22and he talks to Hench.

01:03:23And after a while,

01:03:24Palermo comes out

01:03:24and he says,

01:03:25okay, copper,

01:03:27he make it to confess.

01:03:28I pay the lawyer, maybe.

01:03:30I like it, the poor guy.

01:03:31And he goes away.

01:03:33What was the story?

01:03:35Well, like this.

01:03:37Phillips made a pass

01:03:38at Hench's girl

01:03:38two days before

01:03:39out in the hall.

01:03:40Now, Hench saw it

01:03:41and he got to brooding,

01:03:42the way a drunk will brood.

01:03:44So yesterday,

01:03:45he tells the girl

01:03:45to go for a walk

01:03:46and he knocks on Phillips' door.

01:03:48He gets in

01:03:49and starts telling Phillips

01:03:50how he feels

01:03:51and what he's going to do.

01:03:52Phillips gets scared

01:03:53and pulls a gun.

01:03:55Hench hits him

01:03:55then drags him

01:03:56into the bathroom

01:03:57and gives him

01:03:57the business with the gun.

01:03:59You like it?

01:04:00Love it.

01:04:01Then Hench takes Phillips' gun,

01:04:02puts it under his pillow

01:04:03and ditches his own.

01:04:05He won't tell us where.

01:04:06Oh, that's a lovely touch.

01:04:08Putting the gun

01:04:09under his pillow.

01:04:10I'd never in the world

01:04:11have thought of that.

01:04:12Well, look at it this way.

01:04:14Hench was smart.

01:04:15The way he did it

01:04:16got us thinking

01:04:17he was a harmless drunk

01:04:18who went out

01:04:19and left his door open

01:04:20and had a gun ditched on him.

01:04:21Well, if he was going

01:04:22to confess anyway,

01:04:23it doesn't make much difference.

01:04:24Will he cop a plea?

01:04:26Well, I figure Palermo

01:04:27could get him off

01:04:27with manslaughter.

01:04:29Why would Palermo

01:04:30want to get him off

01:04:31with anything?

01:04:31He likes Hench.

01:04:33And Palermo's a guy

01:04:34we can't push around.

01:04:35What about the girl?

01:04:36Well, she won't say a word.

01:04:38We can't do anything to her.

01:04:39A nice, neat little job

01:04:42all around.

01:04:43You wouldn't kick, would you?

01:04:45Whatever is your business

01:04:46can stay your business.

01:04:47You get me?

01:04:48Not that I wouldn't like

01:04:49to hear your story,

01:04:51but I don't figure

01:04:52I have an absolute right

01:04:54to insist

01:04:54the way things are.

01:04:56That's white of you, Breeze.

01:04:58And you too, Spangler.

01:05:00A lot of good things

01:05:01in life to both of you.

01:05:03Goodbye.

01:05:03I went to see Palermo.

01:05:07He turned out

01:05:08to be a good family man

01:05:09beside getting the vote out.

01:05:11It seemed he had a brother

01:05:13who was, as he put it,

01:05:14a bad brother.

01:05:16And the brother

01:05:16was trying to live

01:05:17a very quiet life

01:05:18in that same apartment house.

01:05:20It was not so good

01:05:21for this bad brother

01:05:22to have cops

01:05:23fill the joint up

01:05:24investigating things.

01:05:25So Palermo

01:05:26had made Hench

01:05:27a proposition.

01:05:28Confess?

01:05:29Take the heat off?

01:05:30Let the brother slip away?

01:05:32Then in court say

01:05:33to hell with the confession

01:05:34I was drunk.

01:05:35Then Palermo's lawyer

01:05:36would get him off,

01:05:37the cops would be stuck,

01:05:39and then everybody

01:05:39would forget all about him.

01:05:41And the killing

01:05:42of George Phillips

01:05:43would be just another

01:05:44unsolved crime.

01:05:46And then Mr. Palermo

01:05:47smiled and shook my hand

01:05:49with his fine,

01:05:50strong, warm hand

01:05:52and wished me luck.

01:05:54Knowing all the time

01:05:55that if I went down

01:05:55to headquarters

01:05:56and told the boys

01:05:57they would laugh at me.

01:05:58And I would have

01:05:59to laugh with them.

01:06:02Eighth floor.

01:06:03What's cooking?

01:06:10Huh?

01:06:10You've got a gray suit

01:06:12on today.

01:06:13Ah, so I have.

01:06:14Looks nice.

01:06:16I liked that blue

01:06:17one you was wearing

01:06:18yesterday, too.

01:06:20Go on, give out.

01:06:21You rode up to eight

01:06:23yesterday, twice.

01:06:25Second time was late.

01:06:27And after that,

01:06:29the boys in blue

01:06:30come bustling in

01:06:31to find old

01:06:32Morningstar Cole.

01:06:34Any of them up there now?

01:06:36I didn't tell them nothing.

01:06:39Too late to mention it

01:06:40now anyway.

01:06:41They'd eat my ass off.

01:06:43Why?

01:06:44Why, and I told them.

01:06:46To hell with them.

01:06:47You talk to me civil,

01:06:49and damn few people

01:06:51do that.

01:06:51The name's Marlowe.

01:06:53Just call me Pop.

01:06:56Who killed him?

01:06:58I don't know.

01:06:59Did you notice anybody

01:07:01going up there

01:07:02or coming down?

01:07:03Nope.

01:07:04Well, they could have

01:07:05used the fire stairs.

01:07:08Pop, could you use

01:07:09a five-dollar bill?

01:07:10Not as a bribe

01:07:12in any sense,

01:07:13but as a token of esteem

01:07:14from a sincere friend?

01:07:15Son, I could use

01:07:17a five so fast

01:07:18it would shave

01:07:19the whiskers off

01:07:20the picture of Abe Lincoln.

01:07:23Thanks.

01:07:24That's right.

01:07:25Nice of you.

01:07:26Yeah.

01:07:26Pop, before I waste my time,

01:07:34do you know there's a guy

01:07:34in this corridor

01:07:35called Teeger Inn?

01:07:37Gone.

01:07:39Carried two suitcases.

01:07:40Mostly carries just one.

01:07:43I figure he picks up

01:07:44and delivers his work.

01:07:46What work?

01:07:46Such as making teeth

01:07:48that don't fit

01:07:49for poor old bastards

01:07:50like me.

01:07:52He's a

01:07:53dental technician.

01:07:54Yeah, I've

01:07:56got a bill for him

01:07:57for some supplies.

01:07:59I looked up his address

01:08:00in the phone book.

01:08:01Some coincidence.

01:08:02What's he done?

01:08:04Some gold inlays, maybe.

01:08:06I think most likely

01:08:07he's taken a cruise

01:08:08to nowhere.

01:08:08I'd shift places with him.

01:08:11Even if he only got

01:08:12to Frisco

01:08:12and got pinched there,

01:08:14I'd shift places with him.

01:08:16Take me down, Pop.

01:08:18Okay.

01:08:24I drove all the way out

01:08:27to Teeger's home,

01:08:28but he had skipped.

01:08:29So I drove all the way

01:08:30back to the office.

01:08:32I poured a drink.

01:08:34Another day was drawing

01:08:35to its end.

01:08:36The air dull and tired.

01:08:38The day's mail

01:08:39had four advertisements,

01:08:40two bills,

01:08:41and a begging letter.

01:08:42Nobody came in.

01:08:43Nobody called.

01:08:44Nothing happened.

01:08:45Nobody cared

01:08:46whether I lived or died

01:08:47or went to El Paso.

01:08:49Then a call came

01:08:50from the manager

01:08:50of my apartment block,

01:08:52saying there was

01:08:52a very hysterical girl

01:08:54on my doorstep.

01:08:55Her name was Merle Davis.

01:08:57I got there fast.

01:09:00Merle.

01:09:01Merle, what is it?

01:09:03You can tell me.

01:09:04I won't hurt you.

01:09:08I've been over

01:09:08to Mr. Vanier's house.

01:09:10Vanier?

01:09:11He lives at the end

01:09:12of Escamillo Drive.

01:09:14Oh.

01:09:15Yeah.

01:09:16Yeah.

01:09:16It's a very quiet there.

01:09:18Mr. Vanier's been

01:09:19living there

01:09:20for three years now.

01:09:21How long have you

01:09:23known Vanier?

01:09:24Eight years.

01:09:26I don't know him

01:09:27very well.

01:09:28I have to take

01:09:30a parcel now and then.

01:09:32I never liked him.

01:09:35I was afraid he was...

01:09:37I was afraid he was...

01:09:38But he didn't.

01:09:40He had his pajamas on.

01:09:42In the afternoon?

01:09:43Mm-hmm.

01:09:44Easy life.

01:09:45Some guys have all the luck.

01:09:47You have to know

01:09:48something secret

01:09:49to make people

01:09:50pay you money.

01:09:51Mm-hmm.

01:09:52How much money

01:09:53did you take to him today?

01:09:55Only $500.

01:09:57Mrs. Murdoch said

01:09:58it would have to stop.

01:10:01Mr. Vanier

01:10:02would always promise

01:10:03to stop,

01:10:03but he never did,

01:10:04so I did it.

01:10:08It was all my fault,

01:10:09and Mrs. Murdoch

01:10:11has been so wonderful to me.

01:10:13It couldn't make me

01:10:14any worse

01:10:15than I was already.

01:10:16You see,

01:10:18he was staring at me.

01:10:20He didn't even get up

01:10:21to let me in.

01:10:23There was a key

01:10:24left in the front door,

01:10:25so...

01:10:25You went in?

01:10:27I went over

01:10:29quite close to him

01:10:30sitting there,

01:10:30so I couldn't miss.

01:10:33I don't remember

01:10:35hearing the noise

01:10:36of the gun.

01:10:38Didn't Vanier

01:10:39do anything?

01:10:40No.

01:10:41He just leered,

01:10:43sort of.

01:10:45I didn't like

01:10:46to go back

01:10:47to Mrs. Murdoch

01:10:47and make more trouble

01:10:48for her,

01:10:49so I came here.

01:10:51I knew you

01:10:52would know

01:10:53what to do.

01:10:54Sure.

01:10:55Merle,

01:10:56what did you touch

01:10:57in the house?

01:10:58Can you remember?

01:11:00I put the light

01:11:02out,

01:11:03the lamp.

01:11:03I put it out.

01:11:04What time was this?

01:11:05Just before I came here.

01:11:07It takes an hour

01:11:07to get here.

01:11:09The light was on

01:11:10in the afternoon.

01:11:11I put the light out.

01:11:13Merle,

01:11:14would you care

01:11:15for a drink?

01:11:16Oh,

01:11:17no, no, no.

01:11:18I never drink

01:11:18anything at all.

01:11:20Would you mind

01:11:20if I had one?

01:11:22Why should I?

01:11:32I needed a drink.

01:11:33Her eyes were

01:11:34quite mad,

01:11:35and no matter

01:11:35how she tried,

01:11:36a regular spasm

01:11:37would twist up

01:11:38her head and face.

01:11:40I don't think

01:11:40she saw me

01:11:41sneak her handbag

01:11:42out into the kitchen

01:11:43with me.

01:11:44Her little Colt 25

01:11:45was inside.

01:11:46I broke it open.

01:11:48It had a cartridge

01:11:48in the breech,

01:11:49but it was the wrong size.

01:11:51Somebody had jammed it

01:11:52in there long ago

01:11:53so that the gun

01:11:54could not be fired.

01:11:56When I went back,

01:11:57she had fainted

01:11:57clean away.

01:11:59So I called

01:12:00a doctor friend of mine

01:12:01to take care of her.

01:12:02Then I headed

01:12:02for Escamillo Drive.

01:12:04The key was still

01:12:07in the lock.

01:12:08I switched the light on.

01:12:10Vanier wore yellow pajamas

01:12:12and a green silk robe.

01:12:14He was leering all right.

01:12:15He was dead.

01:12:17He sat in a chair

01:12:18by the fireplace

01:12:18with a hole

01:12:19in the right side

01:12:20of his head

01:12:20and a .32 revolver

01:12:22on the carpet

01:12:22by his dangling right arm.

01:12:24So now I had found

01:12:26three murders

01:12:26and had no explanation

01:12:27for any of them.

01:12:29The setup here

01:12:29could be suicide,

01:12:30but I didn't believe it.

01:12:32I looked around.

01:12:33The picture

01:12:34that had fallen off

01:12:35the wall beside him

01:12:36was the clue

01:12:37to how it happened.

01:12:38Somebody had been

01:12:39standing to his right,

01:12:40somebody he didn't fear,

01:12:42and they had pulled a gun

01:12:43and shot him

01:12:43in the right temple.

01:12:45And then,

01:12:45startled by the blood

01:12:46and the recoil,

01:12:47the killer had jumped back

01:12:49and knocked the picture down.

01:12:50It was a reproduction

01:12:51of a guy

01:12:52in doublet and hose

01:12:53leaning out

01:12:54of a high window.

01:12:56A high window?

01:12:58A man leaning out?

01:13:00A long time ago?

01:13:02Vanier had a sense

01:13:04of humor.

01:13:05Hidden in the back

01:13:06of the picture

01:13:06was a list of payments

01:13:08going back eight years,

01:13:09mostly for $500,

01:13:11and an envelope

01:13:12with a negative

01:13:12and a print

01:13:13showing a man

01:13:14leaning far out

01:13:15of a window

01:13:15with his mouth open,

01:13:17yelling.

01:13:18There was a woman's face

01:13:19behind his shoulder.

01:13:21For a long time

01:13:22it looked to me

01:13:22as if the man

01:13:23was leaning out

01:13:24with his hands

01:13:24on the brick edges

01:13:25of the window.

01:13:26But then,

01:13:27I saw it.

01:13:29The hands

01:13:29were not touching anything.

01:13:31He was not leaning.

01:13:33He was falling.

01:13:35Everything was falling

01:13:36into place.

01:13:38The gun beside Vanier

01:13:39had a piece

01:13:40broken off

01:13:41the checked rubber grip.

01:13:42I wiped it

01:13:43and took his bone-stiff hand

01:13:45and pressed his prints

01:13:46onto it.

01:13:47They wouldn't be too good,

01:13:48but they would have to do.

01:13:49I had to be sure

01:13:50they were the only ones.

01:13:52Once again,

01:13:53I walked out

01:13:54on a dead man

01:13:55and didn't call the police.

01:13:56I felt very tired,

01:13:59but there was still

01:14:00a lot to do.

01:14:03Merle?

01:14:04Merle?

01:14:08Hello.

01:14:09Hello.

01:14:11I'm all right.

01:14:13I'm fine, aren't I?

01:14:14Sure.

01:14:17Is this your bed I'm in?

01:14:19Well, that's all right.

01:14:20There's a nurse outside.

01:14:22I'm not afraid.

01:14:25I guess that's a compliment.

01:14:27Um,

01:14:29I lied to you.

01:14:30I didn't shoot anybody.

01:14:32I know.

01:14:33Forget it.

01:14:34Does Mrs. Murdoch

01:14:36know where I am?

01:14:37Not yet.

01:14:39Will you tell her everything?

01:14:41I have to.

01:14:42She'll understand.

01:14:45She knows the awful thing

01:14:46I did eight years ago.

01:14:48That's why she was paying Vanier?

01:14:51I wish you hadn't had to know.

01:14:54Even my parents never knew.

01:14:57Where are your parents, Merle?

01:14:58Wichita.

01:15:00I haven't seen them for years.

01:15:02What does your father do?

01:15:04He's a vet.

01:15:06I want to tell you...

01:15:08I want to tell you all about it.

01:15:11I know it all, Merle.

01:15:13Marlow knows everything.

01:15:14Except how to find a decent life.

01:15:16I'll take you back to Wichita tomorrow, Merle.

01:15:19To visit your parents.

01:15:20At Mrs. Murdoch's expense.

01:15:22Oh, that's wonderful, lover.

01:15:26Yeah.

01:15:28You go to sleep.

01:15:29I'm going to see her now.

01:15:30As soon as I visit a pawn shop to redeem a coin.

01:15:34You go to sleep.

01:15:36Good night, Marla.

01:15:38Mr. Marlow,

01:15:39I made a mistake calling you in the first place.

01:15:42I have a feeling that you're going to be insolent again.

01:15:45Just Frank.

01:15:47I think you got the value out of me, Mrs. Murdoch.

01:15:50But what did you get from Vanier?

01:15:52He's been blackmailing you for eight years, hasn't he?

01:15:55On account of something that happened on the 26th of April, 1933.

01:16:00Well?

01:16:01Merle was Horace Bright's secretary.

01:16:04He was your first husband.

01:16:05She was a timid, old-fashioned girl.

01:16:07I figure he got high one time and made a pass at her and scared her out of her socks.

01:16:13She brooded on it, and then she got a chance and passed right back at him while he was leaning out of a window.

01:16:19Anything in that?

01:16:20Speak plainly, Mr. Marlow.

01:16:22I can stand plain talk.

01:16:24How plain do you want it?

01:16:25She pushed her employer out of a window, murdered him in two words, and got away with it, with your help.

01:16:31Did Vanier just happen to see it, or did he have evidence?

01:16:36He talked of a photograph, but I never saw it.

01:16:39I never believed it existed.

01:16:42You paid out because you were so fond of Merle.

01:16:45$11,100.

01:16:49Pretty damn nice of you, Mrs. Murdoch, considering everything.

01:16:53It was my husband's fault.

01:16:55He was vile.

01:16:57I can't blame her.

01:16:59She had blamed herself enough.

01:17:00Well, it's over now.

01:17:02Vanier is through.

01:17:04What?

01:17:05How?

01:17:06Merle is at my place.

01:17:07She has a gun in her bag.

01:17:09She told me she shot Vanier.

01:17:11He's dead, all right, but she didn't do it.

01:17:13He was dead long before she went there.

01:17:17How is she?

01:17:18I got her a doctor.

01:17:19Then I phoned her father.

01:17:21He wants her to come home.

01:17:23Who killed Vanier?

01:17:25Looks like suicide.

01:17:26Men like Vanier don't commit suicide.

01:17:28That's like saying girls like Merle don't push people out of windows.

01:17:32I'm going to take her home to Wichita.

01:17:34I'll need the $500 she was carrying for Vanier.

01:17:39And how much more?

01:17:41You believe what you want of me, Mrs. Murdoch.

01:17:44Just send her stuff.

01:17:46You don't need Merle anymore.

01:17:49The case will never be reopened.

01:17:51You know what I mean?

01:17:52I understand.

01:17:55Goodbye, Mr. Marlow.

01:17:57One more thing.

01:17:59Is there anything about the doubloon in your collection to identify it from any other brasher doubloon?

01:18:05The coin maker's initials, EB, are on the left wing of the eagle.

01:18:10They're usually on the right.

01:18:11And you did get it back?

01:18:13I have told you so repeatedly.

01:18:16Leslie, go away, Mr. Marlow.

01:18:18You bore me unspeakably.

01:18:27Why, Leslie, hello.

01:18:29Just happened to be outside the door, did you?

01:18:31Come here.

01:18:32I want to talk to you.

01:18:34I have nothing to say to you.

01:18:35I think you have.

01:18:37Know a man named Vanier?

01:18:39Vaguely.

01:18:40Let me show you something.

01:18:41What do you think this is?

01:18:45The brasher doubloon.

01:18:47This was sent to me by a would-be detective.

01:18:50A simple sort of fellow who got into a bad spot.

01:18:53He was hired to peddle this coin.

01:18:55Or the one upstairs.

01:18:57Whichever is the counterfeit.

01:18:59Counterfeit?

01:19:00Oh, I'm tired, Leslie.

01:19:02Let's not dance around, huh?

01:19:04Vanier and a man named Teeger had an idea.

01:19:08Teeger was a dental technician, so he could do gold inlays.

01:19:12So why not reproduce a rare and valuable gold coin?

01:19:17You nearly told the truth, didn't you?

01:19:18Did I?

01:19:19You did have gambling debts.

01:19:22You did take your mother's coin, but you didn't give it to Mourney.

01:19:26You gave it to Vanier.

01:19:27But then Vanier needed to know if the counterfeit would stand up to inspection.

01:19:32So Teeger suggests a coin dealer in his office building.

01:19:35Enter the tall blonde.

01:19:37Who is she?

01:19:39Lois Magic.

01:19:40Vanier got her to pose as an injured wife and hire a sucker for him.

01:19:45Poor, fat George Phillips.

01:19:46To try to sell the counterfeit coin.

01:19:49But old Morningstar was a sharp old bird.

01:19:52And he spotted the initials were on the wrong wing of the eagle.

01:19:55So he called your mother.

01:19:57She found the coin was missing.

01:19:59She hired me.

01:20:00You were scared.

01:20:01I told you everything when I came to see you.

01:20:03You were more scared after you saw me.

01:20:06You asked Vanier for the coin back.

01:20:08He gave you one.

01:20:09But now, Morningstar is suspicious.

01:20:12I have been hired.

01:20:13And you are scared.

01:20:14And he sees his nice idea in danger.

01:20:17So now, we come to murder.

01:20:20I didn't do them.

01:20:21No, Vanier did.

01:20:23He went to talk to George Phillips.

01:20:25To ask him what the hell he did to stir things up so much.

01:20:27Maybe poor George let slip he'd contacted me because Vanier shot him.

01:20:33Then he looked for the coin, but he didn't find it.

01:20:35It's this one.

01:20:37George Phillips had already posted it to me.

01:20:40Vanier is bound to think Morningstar had it.

01:20:43So he cracks the old man's skull, but is still empty-handed.

01:20:46By now, he is very annoyed.

01:20:49But he can't touch you.

01:20:51Why?

01:20:52Because it would break his hold on your mother.

01:20:54If he hurt you, she wouldn't care what happened.

01:20:57What is this to do with my mother?

01:21:00Don't kid me any more than you have to.

01:21:03I know all about the blackmail.

01:21:05Did you kill Vanier?

01:21:07Is this one of those scenes where, after the suspect listens to the master detective's brilliant analysis,

01:21:12he makes his world-weary pounce on the least promising?

01:21:16What do I do now?

01:21:17Turn pale as paper, froth up the mouth, and pull a gun out of my right ear?

01:21:20You could try.

01:21:21I left my gun upstairs.

01:21:22He had a big hold on you already, but he must have wanted it still stronger.

01:21:27So last night, he told you the whole blackmail story, didn't he?

01:21:31Yes.

01:21:33He was gloating almost.

01:21:36I...

01:21:37After all, Marlowe, she is my mother.

01:21:40Nobody can take that away from you.

01:21:42He had a gun in the pocket of his robe.

01:21:45I somehow snatched it away from him, held it to his head to scare him.

01:21:49It...

01:21:49It went off.

01:21:52I jumped back, knocked the picture down.

01:21:54It was an accident.

01:21:55Why not make it a nice, clean, honest murder?

01:21:58It's what happened.

01:22:00I put his prints on the gun and left it beside him.

01:22:03What about the police?

01:22:04Now, that gun belonged to a man named Hench, so it ties Vanier to Phillips.

01:22:09The cops may never think of you.

01:22:11On the other hand, if you told an honest story, no jury would convict you.

01:22:15Juries don't like blackmailers.

01:22:17But I didn't know anything about the blackmail before last night.

01:22:20Vanier just showed me a way to make some easy money.

01:22:22Well, at least you're honest, Leslie.

01:22:24And we're sure the only prints on that gun are Vanier's.

01:22:27I did them again myself.

01:22:29You mean the police will think it was suicide?

01:22:31Well, if they're satisfied he did the other killings, yeah.

01:22:37And you'll let me get away with it?

01:22:39Get away with what?

01:22:41Maybe it was an accident, like you say.

01:22:43I'm not a cop or an informer.

01:22:46I've been working for your mother, and whatever right to my silence that gives her, she can have.

01:22:50I don't like this damn family.

01:22:52And I don't like what it's done to Merle.

01:22:54So, I'm going to take her home.

01:22:57I haven't...

01:22:58I don't know how to thank you.

01:23:01A man I hardly know.

01:23:03Taking risks for me.

01:23:05I'm going the way I always go.

01:23:07And with the heartfelt hope that I won't be seeing you in the fishbowl.

01:23:11I'm going to buy a pint of good liquor and drink enough of it to stop me thinking, and then sleep, I hope.

01:23:16And then drive Merle back to Wichita.

01:23:22How are you, Merle?

01:23:24Oh, I'm much better. How are you?

01:23:27Pass me those dark glasses, will you? I'm bleeding to death.

01:23:30Oh, yeah. Here they are.

01:23:33Oh, I'm sorry. I've been a terrible nuisance.

01:23:37Nonsense. Your father and mother are dying to see you.

01:23:40Oh, it's very kind of Mrs. Murdoch to let me go.

01:23:44Yeah.

01:23:45You're not angry with me?

01:23:48No, no, no, no. I'm just, uh, just a little slow this morning.

01:23:53Last night, um, well, last night, well, I, last night I meant...

01:23:57Get it over with.

01:23:59Yeah.

01:23:59I'm not driving halfway across the USA with a nervous breakdown in the seat beside me.

01:24:04Well, last night, I...

01:24:06You said you killed Vanier, then you said you didn't.

01:24:09Uh...

01:24:10You didn't. He was dead when you got there with the money for Mrs. Murdoch.

01:24:14No, for me. It was her money, of course, but it was for me, because of what I did.

01:24:21Oh, I owe her so much. Of course, she doesn't give me much salary, but I could never repay her.

01:24:26It would take the Yankees baseball team with two bats each to give her what she has coming from you.

01:24:31Well, you didn't push Horace Bright out of any window.

01:24:35Oh, oh, no, I...

01:24:35Well, I wouldn't be telling you this if the doctor hadn't said it would be all right.

01:24:40Face reality, Merle.

01:24:42Maybe you had the impulse to kill Horace Bright, but it's not in your nature.

01:24:46Maybe you fainted, and he did fall.

01:24:48But it was Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdoch who heaved him over for his life insurance, among other reasons.

01:24:55Oh, that's impossible.

01:24:56Mrs. Murdoch protected me. I did it.

01:24:59I don't remember very well, but I...

01:25:02She made you think you had done it.

01:25:03Here, look in this envelope.

01:25:06Look at that picture Vanier took.

01:25:10That's... that's Mr. Bright.

01:25:12And... and that's Mrs. Murdoch behind...

01:25:15He looks mad.

01:25:17If he looks mad there, you should have seen him when he bounced.

01:25:20He's screaming with fear.

01:25:22Look at the position of his hands.

01:25:24What?

01:25:25They're holding air.

01:25:26That is old Mrs. M giving her first husband the heave-ho.

01:25:31Don't you get it?

01:25:32Vanier was blackmailing her.

01:25:34Oh, but Mrs. Murdoch has always been so lovely to me.

01:25:38She made you the goat.

01:25:40She's smart and she's patient.

01:25:42I have to hand it to her.

01:25:44I'd like to hand it to her with an elephant gun, but my polite breeding restrains me.

01:25:49Do you understand now?

01:25:50Merle, you must never show this picture to Mrs. Murdoch.

01:25:54It would upset her terribly.

01:25:57Merle?

01:25:58Oh, I don't know.

01:26:00Maybe you're disappointed you didn't kill somebody.

01:26:03You just stay in Wichita and forget all about Mrs. Murdoch.

01:26:07You won't be seeing her again.

01:26:09Let me tie up all the loose ends.

01:26:11Now, you forget all of this.

01:26:13Forget me.

01:26:13Oh, I...

01:26:14I couldn't forget you, Mr. Marlow.

01:26:17Okay, don't forget me, Merle.

01:26:21Lieutenant Jesse Breeze never believed Hench's confession.

01:26:25He just wanted to put the squeeze on me.

01:26:28He knew I couldn't keep quiet if I had proof that Hench didn't do it.

01:26:32So now he had it solved to his own satisfaction.

01:26:35Suicide by Vanier after he'd done the two murders.

01:26:39Teagher was arrested in Salt Lake City with a suitcase full of counterfeit doubloons.

01:26:44He never knew where Vanier got the original, and nobody came forward to say they'd lost one.

01:26:51Hench turned out to be wanted for liquor store holdups with an Italian who was never found.

01:26:56It was also never established if the Italian was related to Palermo, who got the vote out.

01:27:01I went home and mixed a drink or two, or nine, and played over a few chess games.

01:27:08I played over a Capablanca that went 59 moves of beautiful, cold, remorseless chess,

01:27:15almost creepy in its silent implacability.

01:27:19Me and Capablanca.

01:27:20Like that.

01:27:21In Bill Morrison's radio adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, The High Window,

01:27:36Ed Bishop played the part of Philip Marlowe,

01:27:39Toby Robbins, that of Merle,

01:27:41and Tucker McGuire, Mrs. Murdoch.

01:27:45Leslie Murdoch was played by Peter Marinker,

01:27:48Lieutenant Breeze, Paul Maxwell,

01:27:51Alex Morney, David Healy,

01:27:54Mr. Morningstar, Don Fellows,

01:27:57Linda Conquest, Margaret Robertson,

01:28:00George Phillips, Bill Morrison,

01:28:03Lou Vanier, Blaine Fairman,

01:28:07Lois Magic, Nicolette McKenzie,

01:28:10Pop, Ramsey Williams,

01:28:13Hench, Paul Meyer,

01:28:15Doll, Elizabeth Bell,

01:28:17Shifty and Spangler, Rod Beecham,

01:28:21Apartment Manager, Gavin Campbell,

01:28:24and Eddie Proulx, Malcolm Gerrard.

01:28:28The music consultant was Adrian Edwards.

01:28:31The play was directed by John Tiedemann.

01:28:34UN miedo verandaido,

01:28:44who is thefinish of the universe,

01:28:45The film called George Law.

01:28:46traffry had beenметish of the universe,

01:28:47the Вы больше than $50,000,

01:28:50and the transformers of описании.

01:28:52The world was directed by David prenders of New York City,

01:28:53the American emperor,

01:28:54and hers.

01:28:54Все along with respect with an almost $58,000,

01:28:56and hope for his calling of Albert gratitude.

01:28:58Therein is a José model,

01:28:58as well as one of the lost trabalh that sometimes

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