WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 Mystery House 00:31.000 --> 00:36.000 Mystery House, that strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn 00:36.000 --> 00:40.280 where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff before it is 00:40.280 --> 00:45.000 accepted for publication. Mystery House. 00:52.000 --> 00:55.880 Barbie, I've read the script for tonight's story and I'd be willing to bet it'll 00:55.880 --> 00:59.160 fool the folks. Well it certainly fooled me. Shouldn't you change it then Mr. Glenn? 00:59.160 --> 01:03.960 Change it? Why? We want to keep folks baffled. Well with a detective story I 01:03.960 --> 01:07.640 guess that's right. Oh guess it, I know. People don't want to be fooled about 01:07.640 --> 01:11.520 facts though Mr. Glenn. They want the absolute truth. I think this is leading 01:11.520 --> 01:15.600 up to something Tom. What absolute truth are you trying to put across tonight? 01:15.600 --> 01:33.880 Thanks Mrs. Glenn. Thanks for the opening. Just listening you'll find out. 01:33.880 --> 01:41.440 Okay, places everybody. Set the scene for tonight's story, will you Tom? Murder takes 01:41.440 --> 01:47.920 practice. Tonight's story opens in the luxuriously furnished study of Fred 01:47.920 --> 01:52.720 Ellsworth, an elderly gentleman who has called a private detective to his home. 01:52.720 --> 01:57.680 I want you to live right in this house with us Barton. If you need more men, get 01:57.680 --> 02:01.880 them. Expense is not to be a factor, understand? Are you sure somebody's 02:01.880 --> 02:05.520 trying to murder you Mr. Ellsworth? You know murder isn't a very complicated 02:05.520 --> 02:09.800 thing. All a killer has to do is kill. I've told you somebody's trying to murder 02:09.800 --> 02:14.400 me. You're to accept what I tell you while you're working for me. Okay, but there 02:14.400 --> 02:18.200 might be another angle. If anybody wanted to kill you, why wouldn't you be dead by 02:18.200 --> 02:22.360 this time? Consider what's happened. First my Great Dane dog dies. The 02:22.360 --> 02:26.400 veterinarian performs an autopsy and the cause of death is arsenic, enough to kill 02:26.400 --> 02:30.120 a herd of horses. Well maybe somebody didn't like the dog. I've always been 02:30.120 --> 02:34.200 sort of edgy about those big dogs myself. I'm not a fool Barton. You think I am? 02:34.200 --> 02:38.000 Perhaps I better call some other detective agency. Let me show you what I 02:38.000 --> 02:44.560 found, or rather what Patty found in one of the wastebaskets. Who's Patty? My niece. 02:44.720 --> 02:51.080 Here, look at it. What is it? Looks like an architect's drawing. Yes, but it's a 02:51.080 --> 02:56.240 drawing of my bedroom. Everything in the room marked in and notice that dotted 02:56.240 --> 02:59.560 line in the window to the bed. Another dotted line in the door to the bed. 02:59.560 --> 03:04.240 Another from the bath to my bed. What of it? I've been awakened three different 03:04.240 --> 03:09.920 mornings by a dried bean hitting my face. A bean shot with some force and I 03:09.920 --> 03:13.560 suspect those beans have come from the three places shown on the diagram. The 03:13.560 --> 03:18.520 window, the hall, the bath. Do you see anybody? No. The first time I didn't even 03:18.520 --> 03:23.200 look. I was too startled and I hadn't seen this full diagram. But if anybody 03:23.200 --> 03:26.580 were really trying to kill you... It would have been a bullet not a bean. Of course I 03:26.580 --> 03:29.440 know that. Anybody would know that. Well then I don't see what makes you think 03:29.440 --> 03:33.760 you're slated for murder. Somebody's practicing Barton. Practicing? People 03:33.760 --> 03:37.960 don't practice on murder. I'm up against a killer who's taking no chances. Who 03:37.960 --> 03:41.960 wants to be sure of committing a perfect crime. Well then you must have some idea 03:41.960 --> 03:46.600 of who the killer is. Of course I have. Somebody in my household, naturally. Why 03:46.600 --> 03:49.840 do you say naturally? Because there isn't a person in this place I wouldn't 03:49.840 --> 03:54.480 suspect of it. Even your niece? She showed me that diagram certainly. If you were 03:54.480 --> 03:57.640 planning a murder, don't you think it would be rather clever to act like you 03:57.640 --> 04:01.360 were helping to prevent it? Why should she kill you? She fancies I've done her 04:01.360 --> 04:06.240 some grave injuries, the little fool. Injuries? Like what? Both she and Lucian 04:06.240 --> 04:10.680 are wards of mine. Lucian is my late sister's son. Patty is my late brother's 04:10.680 --> 04:14.080 daughter. I think they'd be pretty grateful to you for taking them in. Patty 04:14.080 --> 04:18.160 wants control of her money. She wants all kinds of things. She wants to marry an 04:18.160 --> 04:22.800 old good Moronic Gigolo. Oh she has money of her own then. In trust to be given her 04:22.800 --> 04:27.020 at the discretion of a board of which I'm the chairman. Uh-huh. Well how about the 04:27.020 --> 04:32.060 boy Lucian? He doesn't have a dime of his own. I never will have until I die. He's 04:32.060 --> 04:36.760 fond of you, is he? He hates me. He feels very much injured because I forced him to 04:36.760 --> 04:41.080 take engineering so he can take a place in my organization. Engineering, huh? 04:41.080 --> 04:49.000 Engineers make plans and diagrams, don't they? Yes. Who is it? Carrie, I wanted to talk to you. 04:49.000 --> 04:54.720 All right, all right. Come in. Oh, I didn't know you had anyone with you. 04:54.720 --> 04:59.280 Carrie, this is Mr. Barton. He's going to stay with us a while. A new butler? That's 04:59.280 --> 05:03.720 very nice. This house has been so upset since the last one. No, no, he's not a 05:03.720 --> 05:09.040 butler. Mr. Barton's a detective. A detective? But why? I'm going to find out 05:09.040 --> 05:14.920 who killed Nader, Carrie. Oh, but don't you think it was an accident, Cousin Fred? 05:14.920 --> 05:20.040 She was such a big dog. Nonsense, Carrie. Dogs don't eat arsenic by accidents, not 05:20.040 --> 05:26.880 even big dogs. No, I suppose not. Oh dear, I do hope you don't think I'm being rude, 05:26.880 --> 05:31.480 Mr. Barton, but this is going to complicate things. Well, I won't be any 05:31.480 --> 05:39.080 bother. At least I'll try not to be, Miss... Tinley, Carrie Tinley. I, well, I sort of 05:39.080 --> 05:44.200 keep house for Cousin Fred and with the cook leaving... Oh, don't act like a martyr, 05:44.200 --> 05:47.800 Carrie. She only left two days ago and if you'd ever get firm with the 05:47.800 --> 05:53.320 employment agent... Oh, I was quite insistent, Cousin Fred, but you see the last cook, 05:53.320 --> 06:01.000 Myrtle, told them at the agency why she had left and they won't send anymore. 06:01.000 --> 06:05.520 We'll discuss that later, Carrie. Just a second. Miss Tinley, why did the last cook leave? 06:05.520 --> 06:10.440 It's of no consequence, Barton. Yeah, but why did she leave, Miss Tinley? Why? That 06:10.440 --> 06:13.800 will do, Carrie. Mr. Ellsworth, I'm going to help you. I have to know what's going 06:13.800 --> 06:18.560 on here. This doesn't concern you, Barton. I'll see you later, Carrie. Miss Tinley, 06:18.560 --> 06:26.040 why did the cook leave? Why, I don't know that I should tell you, Mr. Barton. Listen, 06:26.040 --> 06:29.780 Barton, you're working for me and you'll follow my orders. Yeah? Unless I can run 06:29.780 --> 06:33.080 things the way I want to, I'm not working for you or anybody else, Mr. Ellsworth. 06:33.080 --> 06:38.280 What's all the row? Oh, hello, Patty. Your uncle doesn't want Miss Tinley to tell me 06:38.280 --> 06:42.520 why the cook left. I should rather think not. Please. The only solution I can think 06:42.520 --> 06:47.080 of is for Uncle Fred to do all the cooking himself. Why? He frightens them 06:47.080 --> 06:50.100 all out of their wits, insisting that they taste a little of everything in 06:50.100 --> 06:55.000 front of him. Patty. You see, he's afraid his food may be poisoned. Oh, is that 06:55.000 --> 06:58.520 right, Mr. Ellsworth? I'm not a crank, Barton, regardless of what you think. Well, 06:58.520 --> 07:02.040 it's really pretty stupid, Mr. Barton. A month ago, he ate some fish that didn't 07:02.040 --> 07:05.120 agree with it. It was poisoned. None of the rest of us suffered any ill effects. 07:05.120 --> 07:08.640 No, because none of the rest of you were eating poisoned food. It was aimed at me. A 07:08.640 --> 07:12.960 guilty conscience does strange things, Uncle Fred. You think people are trying 07:12.960 --> 07:16.560 to kill you because you think deep down in your heart that they have a reason to. 07:16.560 --> 07:20.200 Young lady, you can't talk to me like this. Oh dear. Patty, don't you think that... 07:20.200 --> 07:24.760 I think all right. I think Uncle Fred's riding for a fall. He's played the 07:24.760 --> 07:29.160 high-handed dictator with all of us. Patty, you mustn't talk like that. Oh, don't be 07:29.160 --> 07:33.160 such a jellyfish, Carrie. He's treated you shamefully. You can't call your soul 07:33.160 --> 07:36.840 your own. Why, you could do better working as a housemaid than you do here. 07:36.840 --> 07:40.840 His own cousin. You've given the best years of your life looking out for him 07:40.840 --> 07:44.440 and he treats you like so much dirt. You're getting pretty brave, aren't you, 07:44.440 --> 07:48.920 Patty? I don't know why I should kowtow to you. I've decided you're never going 07:48.920 --> 07:54.320 to let me run my own life anyway. Hi. Hey, where is everybody? In the study, Lucian. 07:54.320 --> 07:57.760 Come on. Don't call him in here. Mr. Barton and I were having a private 07:57.760 --> 08:02.520 conference. Hey, what is this? A family convention? Oh, pardon me. I don't know 08:02.520 --> 08:08.200 you, do I? This is Mr. Barton, Lucian. He's a detective. Detective? What's so funny, 08:08.200 --> 08:13.120 Lucian? You are, Unki. He thinks somebody's trying to kill him. Yeah. What do you 08:13.120 --> 08:16.520 think? Oh, I'm not supposed to think. Nobody else in the house has any right to 08:16.520 --> 08:19.920 think. Nobody but Uncle Fred. He does all the thinking. You'd better be careful 08:19.920 --> 08:23.760 how you talk, young man. You used to make me believe that, Unki, but not anymore. 08:23.760 --> 08:28.600 No. You wouldn't toss me out because then you couldn't control me and you enjoy it 08:28.600 --> 08:34.040 too much. Lucian, please don't upset Cousin Fred. Please. Worried, Carrie? Neither one 08:34.040 --> 08:37.660 of us needs to worry. You're too good a workhorse to get sacked and I'm too 08:37.660 --> 08:41.640 perfect a puppet. And he's scared anyway, Carrie. Look at him. He's lost weight this 08:41.640 --> 08:46.120 last month. He's jittery. Why he... Stop it, you ungrateful little bum. Ungrateful? 08:46.120 --> 08:50.160 What am I supposed to be grateful for, Unki? You've never let me do anything I 08:50.160 --> 08:54.320 wanted to do. You've tried to make me a carbon copy of you. And when I look at 08:54.320 --> 08:59.280 the original... No. No. I'm not grateful. Get out of here. This minute. I'm through 08:59.280 --> 09:04.600 with you, understand? Get out. You really mean that, Unki? You bet I mean it. Oh, boy, 09:04.600 --> 09:08.480 what a break. I've been trying to get up my courage for this for a long time and 09:08.480 --> 09:13.480 now that it's happened, wow. You ought to try it, Carrie. Lucian, you don't know what 09:13.480 --> 09:17.920 you're saying. Ellsworth, you don't really want Lucian to leave. You... Don't give him a 09:17.920 --> 09:23.400 chance to change his mind, Carrie. And by the way, why don't you join me? What? Oh, I 09:23.400 --> 09:27.240 don't mean come with me, but why don't you come to life and clear out of here? 09:27.240 --> 09:31.360 You'll never find a better time. Get out, Lucian, and be quick about it. Right, Unki. 09:31.360 --> 09:36.280 You know, I haven't got a dime in the world and no place to go. I suppose I 09:36.280 --> 09:41.920 should be worried. But you know how I feel? Just wonderful. So long, Unki. 09:41.920 --> 09:47.880 Well, I wanted to do that for a long time. It's... Well, it's a relief having it over. 09:47.880 --> 09:51.840 Wasn't very smart, Mr. Ellsworth. Look, Barton, I won't have anyone telling me... 09:51.840 --> 09:55.440 You got me telling you right now. Just suppose Lucian is the one who's trying to 09:55.440 --> 09:59.320 murder you because he hates you. Then I'm rid of him. He knows this house like a 09:59.320 --> 10:04.720 book, and if he hated you enough to want to kill you before, how does he feel now? 10:04.720 --> 10:23.400 You shouldn't get so upset, dear. You must learn to control yourself, Patty. You'd be 10:23.400 --> 10:27.840 better off if you didn't control yourself so well. Poor Lucian. I wonder what's 10:27.840 --> 10:33.160 going to happen to him. You know, I have a feeling Cousin Fred will be easier to 10:33.160 --> 10:40.800 be around now that Lucian's gone. I don't like to say this, but I think Lucian was 10:40.800 --> 10:46.200 playing jokes on him. Playing jokes on him? That diagram Cousin Fred made such a 10:46.200 --> 10:53.080 fuss about. I don't know whether I should tell anybody or not, but well, I saw 10:53.080 --> 11:00.400 Lucian throw it in the wastebasket. What? I'll be darned. You're sure, Carrie? Why, 11:00.400 --> 11:05.320 yes? We better tell him about it, Fred. No, no, I wouldn't want to do anything to 11:05.320 --> 11:09.400 cause anybody any trouble. Come back, please. Oh, for heaven's sakes, get some 11:09.400 --> 11:15.120 backbone, Carrie. Where is he? In his study with that detective. You know, I'm 11:15.120 --> 11:20.480 not sure I trust that man. You're afraid of your own shadow. Come on. But you 11:20.480 --> 11:26.120 mustn't go in without knocking. Cousin Fred won't permit that. You know he won't. 11:26.120 --> 11:38.360 There's nobody. You might have been killed. What is that? It's an iron dumbbell from 11:38.360 --> 11:43.920 Lucian's gymnasium stuff. You can see it was held over the door by a piece of 11:43.920 --> 11:48.880 rope. When the door opened, the rope released it. Carrie, Carrie, that noise, what was it? 11:48.880 --> 11:53.720 About 25 pounds of concentrated iron, Uncle Fred. Balanced right over your door. 11:53.720 --> 11:58.880 You see, Barton? Yeah, but this is the first time I've ever seen a murderer 11:58.880 --> 12:01.600 practice. 12:01.600 --> 12:26.480 Is somebody trying to scare Uncle Fred, or does the would-be murderer really mean 12:26.480 --> 12:33.480 business? And why so cautious? Why not get it over in a hurry? Hmm? Well, maybe 12:33.480 --> 12:37.720 that's what will happen in the second act of tonight's story. 12:37.720 --> 12:58.760 Now, act two of murder takes practice. It's 11 o'clock at night, and the Ellsworth 12:58.760 --> 13:04.000 family is getting ready to go to bed. I wonder where Lucian's staying tonight. 13:04.000 --> 13:08.600 I neither know nor care. Well, you're wrong there. Oh, no. If I have murder suspects, I 13:08.600 --> 13:12.960 want to keep them where I can watch them. But you surely don't think Lucian, he 13:12.960 --> 13:16.120 could hardly have engineered that dumbbell business. After all, he wasn't 13:16.120 --> 13:19.480 even here. Well, he knows his way around the place, doesn't he? I'll bet you right now 13:19.480 --> 13:23.040 I could wander around this house for weeks without any of you knowing it. After 13:23.040 --> 13:26.560 all, this is a pretty good-sized hunk of a home. Nonsense. You don't like it because 13:26.560 --> 13:29.280 I did what was proper under the circumstances instead of following your 13:29.280 --> 13:35.040 advice. That noise, what was it? Just a door slamming. No, there's somebody in this house 13:35.040 --> 13:38.400 we'll all be killed. I'll go take a look, Miss Tenley, if it'll make you feel any easier. 13:38.400 --> 13:47.240 Halt! Wherever you are, halt or I'll shoot. I mean it. Carrie, I'm nervous enough without your screaming. 13:47.240 --> 13:53.440 All right, kid, come on. No funny stuff. You're lucky I didn't hit you. Lucian? Well, what of it? 13:53.440 --> 13:57.520 So you were skulking around here after you'd been told to leave. I walked out 13:57.520 --> 14:01.320 without any clothes or money or anything. I wasn't gone an hour before I realized 14:01.320 --> 14:04.640 I'd need some things from my room. I didn't want to talk to any of you so I 14:04.640 --> 14:07.800 tried to get up to my room without your knowing about it and got shot at for my 14:07.800 --> 14:11.840 pain. Do you happen to know anything about an iron dumbbell, Lucian? Huh? Oh, 14:11.840 --> 14:16.200 don't worry, I'm not taking it with me. Been checking to see if anything was 14:16.200 --> 14:20.240 missing, huh? Well, it's here. Carrie borrowed it to use as a door stop for a 14:20.240 --> 14:28.120 bedroom door. Why? How about that, Carrie? Why, yes, I did, but... Oh, cousin Fred, you don't think 14:28.120 --> 14:31.880 that means I put the thing up over your door. It's funny you hadn't mentioned it, 14:31.880 --> 14:35.880 Carrie. There's nothing funny about it. If something from your room were used in a 14:35.880 --> 14:39.760 murder attempt, I don't think you'd mention it either. You sound like a very 14:39.760 --> 14:44.000 philosophical person, Barton, but I've got a hotel room to find tonight so if 14:44.000 --> 14:47.480 you'll promise not to shoot at me again, I'll go on up and get my things. No, you're 14:47.480 --> 14:51.480 not leaving here tonight, Lucian. You want a bet? I'd bet a good deal on it. 14:51.480 --> 14:56.000 You're a suspect. Oh, you flatter me. If you think I'm trying to murder Uncle, I 14:56.000 --> 14:58.800 should think you'd want me to clear out in a hurry. I'd like to keep murder 14:58.800 --> 15:03.360 suspects where I can watch them. Oh, by the way, that brings up what we were 15:03.360 --> 15:09.040 coming to see you about, Uncle Fred. No, Patty, please. Coming to see me about? Yes, I 15:09.040 --> 15:12.440 wondered what you two were doing in the study. You've both been forbidden to 15:12.440 --> 15:17.200 enter the place without my being there. But we... that is, at least I thought you 15:17.200 --> 15:20.040 were there. And you know what I've always said about knocking before you 15:20.040 --> 15:25.200 come in, don't you? Well? Yes, yes, I mentioned that to Patty when she started 15:25.200 --> 15:28.640 to open the door. Oh, let's not have another of those idiotic squabbles 15:28.640 --> 15:32.920 about the sacredness of your study. We came to tell you that Carrie... No, Patty, 15:32.920 --> 15:38.640 you mustn't. It was different when I thought Lucian had left, but now you just 15:38.640 --> 15:43.440 can't. Can't what? What is this, anyway? Carrie says she saw you making that 15:43.440 --> 15:48.120 diagram of Uncle Fred's room. What? Of course I made a diagram of his room, or 15:48.120 --> 15:53.040 rather a floor plan. Yeah? Why? It was a classroom assignment. Floor plan of the 15:53.040 --> 15:56.640 largest bedroom in the house. I suppose it was part of your assignment to make 15:56.640 --> 15:59.880 those dotted lines from the window and the two doors to your uncle's bed. I 15:59.880 --> 16:03.600 didn't make any dotted lines. Somebody else did that. Somebody who saw me 16:03.600 --> 16:07.880 working and wanted to get me in bad. No, Lucian, I wouldn't hurt you for anything. 16:07.880 --> 16:12.760 Who was it found the plan in the wastebasket? Patty. And of all the people 16:12.760 --> 16:18.040 in the place, who gains most by Unki's death? That's not so, but I'd get aside 16:18.040 --> 16:22.280 from what's rightfully mine already. I don't know, but I rather imagine both 16:22.280 --> 16:26.520 you and Carrie get the bulk of Uncle Fred's own money unless he's found time 16:26.520 --> 16:30.920 to change his will. Well, how about that, Mr. Ellsworth? Under the circumstances, 16:30.920 --> 16:34.440 Barton, I think it would be most uncircumstance for me to explain my will 16:34.440 --> 16:40.640 at the moment. Yeah, I see what you mean. Well, it's time to go to bed. I'm not 16:40.640 --> 16:45.320 staying here. Yes again, lad. I'm going to escort each of you to your rooms. I'm 16:45.320 --> 16:52.320 going to watch you go in and close your doors. And my advice is to stay there. 16:52.320 --> 17:17.320 Who is it? Who is it, I said? Answer me. It's me, Carrie. Carrie, what in the world are you doing here? 17:17.320 --> 17:21.440 Didn't you hear what the detective said about staying in your own room? I'm afraid, 17:21.440 --> 17:27.520 Patty. I'm frightened after death. Lucian's here, too, and after my telling 17:27.520 --> 17:32.600 what I saw, that plan, he may want to kill me, too. I'd rather you'd go back to your 17:32.600 --> 17:37.760 own room, Carrie. But together, a murderer would be afraid. I've been doing some 17:37.760 --> 17:43.520 thinking, Carrie. You admit you saw Lucian make that diagram. You ordinarily empty 17:43.520 --> 17:48.200 the wastebaskets, but you had me do it the day I found that plan. And it was you 17:48.200 --> 17:51.840 who told me Uncle Fred was in the study this afternoon when I almost got my head 17:51.840 --> 17:57.720 bashed. Patty, no, surely you don't think that I would commit murder? Whoever this 17:57.720 --> 18:03.440 murderer is, he or she is being awfully cautious. You're the most cautious 18:03.440 --> 18:08.960 person I've ever known. You have reason to hate Uncle Fred. At least as much reason 18:08.960 --> 18:14.560 as Lucian and I. But that's not true. Carrie, just what would you gain by Uncle 18:14.560 --> 18:24.160 Fred's death? What? You mustn't say such a thing, Patty. You mustn't. Help! Help! Somebody for the love of heaven! 18:24.160 --> 18:30.480 That's Uncle Fred. Come on. All right, stay in your rooms, all of you, till I tell you 18:30.480 --> 18:40.320 differently. Oh, hang it, all of you out here. Okay, come on. Oh, oh dear. Is he dead? 18:40.320 --> 18:45.000 Oh, it smells like chloroform in here. I can't stand. He's all right. We got to him in time. 18:45.000 --> 18:52.160 He can't be clear under. Come on, come on, wake up. Oh, here's the cause. On his bed, 18:52.160 --> 18:55.200 right by the pillow, a rag soaked with chloroform. Well, toss it out the window 18:55.200 --> 19:02.080 before it makes the rest of us groggy. Okay. I woke up feeling sick. That sickly sweet 19:02.080 --> 19:09.760 smell. I was dizzy. I tried to get up out of bed and I couldn't. I fell out, I guess, 19:09.760 --> 19:16.400 and started crawling to the door. I called. Thank goodness you heard me. But who would 19:16.400 --> 19:21.040 have chloroform? This stuff always makes me sick. Well, if you folks had followed my 19:21.040 --> 19:25.600 instructions, we'd know now who did this. Why? Because after you went to bed, I stuck a 19:25.600 --> 19:29.920 little piece of black thread on each door frame. I stuck it on with a dab of chewing gum and 19:29.920 --> 19:34.480 then draped the thread over the doorknob. That's very clever. Yeah, it would have been. They 19:34.480 --> 19:39.360 hadn't have all come rushing out when you called. And I don't suppose I can blame them. 19:39.360 --> 19:45.040 I'm glad somebody came. This time, Barton, I'd like to be with you when they go to their rooms. 19:45.040 --> 19:48.640 And I'm serving notice. I'm locking mine from the inside. 20:01.120 --> 20:04.560 All right, all of you. Those threads are in place across your doorknobs. 20:05.120 --> 20:09.200 Now, if anything else should happen, don't come out under any circumstances until I tell 20:09.200 --> 20:13.760 you to. Anybody who opens a door is open to suspicion as a would-be murderer. 20:14.320 --> 20:19.200 I hit that straight, all of you. Okay, Mr. Ellsworth, come on. Yes. 20:23.760 --> 20:30.000 Do you suppose any of them could hear us now, Barton? I don't see how. I have a plan to trap 20:30.000 --> 20:37.040 the murderer. A plan that will work. What kind of a plan? Here, you take my gun. You go to my room, 20:37.040 --> 20:41.120 I'll go to yours. Well, I don't think there'll be any more murder attempts tonight. Those little 20:41.120 --> 20:46.240 threads should keep everybody at home now that they know about them. I am not so sure. You get 20:46.240 --> 20:52.640 into my bed, keep the gun ready, and don't go to sleep. Okay, might be worth a try at that. 20:52.640 --> 21:08.240 At least it'll keep you from being nervous. Thanks. Good night. 21:08.240 --> 21:27.200 Hey, hey, watch out. Don't shoot, Barton. I've got another idea. Oh, what now? Wait, wait till 21:27.200 --> 21:33.920 I close the door so nobody will hear. All right, just a second. I'll turn on the light. No. What? 21:33.920 --> 21:38.880 No, they might be watching. It will never do to let them know we're together. We can talk in the 21:38.880 --> 21:47.200 dark. Okay, go ahead. What's on your mind? That day you came to my office, soliciting business as a 21:47.200 --> 21:52.720 private detective. Yeah, what about it? I got to thinking about it afterwards. You asked a good 21:52.720 --> 21:59.040 many questions. What of it? You weren't actually soliciting business. You were doing business right 21:59.040 --> 22:07.440 then, weren't you? What makes you think that? Who hired you to spy on me, Barton? Harlow Morton. He 22:07.440 --> 22:13.120 wanted you to find out why I wouldn't let Patty marry him, didn't he? Sure. You can't blame him, 22:13.120 --> 22:18.000 can you? What did you tell him? Well, I told him I thought you'd stolen the girl's money and didn't 22:18.000 --> 22:23.840 dare let her get married. What made you think that? A little checking into your finances. And just what 22:23.840 --> 22:28.480 did you advise him to do about it? I told him there wasn't a thing in the world he could do about it, 22:28.480 --> 22:34.480 unless he wanted to lose his own shirt in a slander suit. But if I'd stolen money... And you 22:34.480 --> 22:39.760 could produce enough to cover, although it would strap you. And you're in charge of the trust. You'd 22:39.760 --> 22:45.200 be okay, and Harlow Morton would be at your mercy. You'd get enough damages to put you back on top 22:45.200 --> 22:51.920 again. You gave him very excellent advice. I hope he paid you well for it. Well enough. Why? 22:52.720 --> 22:57.200 Didn't you think it odd that I should hire you to handle these murder attempts for me? 22:57.200 --> 23:03.360 No, not at all. Most people don't know many private detectives. What a pity. What would you say if I 23:03.360 --> 23:08.960 were to tell you that everything that's happened has been leading up to this? It's all part of a 23:08.960 --> 23:15.280 plan. What are you talking about? Everything that's happened I've done myself. Nobody ever 23:15.280 --> 23:20.560 suspect a man of trying to murder himself, would they? I put the dotted lines on the floor plan. 23:20.560 --> 23:27.600 The story about the dried beans was pure fabrication. I poisoned the dog. I never liked the animal anyway. 23:28.160 --> 23:33.200 I put that dumbbell over the door. I put the chloroform soaked rag next to my pillow. You don't 23:33.200 --> 23:39.840 say why? To establish that somebody was trying to murder me. I knew what I was doing all the time. 23:40.400 --> 23:48.160 Okay, I'll bite. What were you doing? Building a plan to rid myself of Patty and you. Well, maybe I'm 23:48.160 --> 23:54.640 dense, Ellsworth, but I don't get it. And you were supposed to be a detective. First, let me assure 23:54.640 --> 23:59.440 you that there's no use firing that revolver I gave you. You've instructed everybody to stay in 23:59.440 --> 24:04.560 their rooms till you call and you'd never get a chance to call. That gun's loaded with blanks. 24:05.200 --> 24:10.320 Pretty cute, Mr. Ellsworth. The gun I have in my hand is a little pearl-handled revolver that Patty 24:10.320 --> 24:16.480 kept hidden in her dresser and is well covered with her fingerprints. I'm wearing gloves and I've 24:16.480 --> 24:21.760 already removed the string from her door. My story will be that you asked me to change places with you. 24:21.760 --> 24:26.240 It'll sound perfectly logical. After all, you're a detective trying to catch a murderer. 24:26.800 --> 24:31.120 I'll have plenty of time to get back to your room again, thanks to your instruction. 24:31.120 --> 24:34.640 I take it you're going to shoot me. Marvelous deduction. 24:37.920 --> 24:42.320 Okay, you're too smart for me. Make sure. No, no, you don't. 24:42.320 --> 24:47.360 Don't. Yeah, yeah, you were firing at a bunch of bedding rolled up and put under the covers, 24:47.360 --> 24:52.000 Ellsworth. May be dumb, but one trick they teach you early in this game is you can't tell what 24:52.000 --> 24:57.520 direction the voice is coming from in the dark. You tricked me. You. Well, it's not too late yet. 24:57.520 --> 25:02.640 It's later than you think, Unkey. Much later. Lucien, you. Barton came and got me right after you got 25:02.640 --> 25:07.600 into his bed, Unkey. I've heard the whole works. And this gun I'm pointing at the back of your head 25:07.600 --> 25:12.960 isn't loaded with any blanks. That chloroform soaked rag was the tip off, Ellsworth. You had 25:12.960 --> 25:19.120 chloroform burns on your fingers and none of the rest of them did. Ellsworth, I've seen some 25:19.120 --> 25:25.600 bunglers in my time, but you top them all. You took more practice than any murderer who'd ever lived 25:25.600 --> 25:38.160 and still muffed it.